Superhero’s top 5 Australian and US stocks revealed
Trading data reveals where Aussies put their money in 2021.
Australian retail investors have flocked to familiar brands during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to their recent trading activity.
Figures released by Superhero show Zip (Z1P) edged out rival Afterpay (APT) as the most-traded stock in 2021.
For banks, Aussie investors favoured the largest one, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA).
It edged out its rivals Westpac (ASX:WBC), ANZ (ASX:ANZ) and NAB (ASX:NAB), in that order.
CEO and co-founder of Superhero John Winters points out that despite 2021 being a challenging year for retail investors, interest in familiar brands grew.
"There was a clear trend across both Australian and US shares that Superhero customers invested in the brands they interacted with regularly," Winters said.
"From Qantas and Kogan in Australia to Apple and Tesla in the US, our customers invest in what they are invested in personally."
US markets
When investing overseas, Aussies are less likely to choose a familiar brand.
Instead, they heavily favoured stocks that will potentially win in a decarbonised world.
According to Superhero, 3 of the top 5 US-traded stocks in 2021 were electric car manufacturers.
"Aussie investors quite clearly see the value of electric vehicles – to have 3 EV companies be in the top 5 most-traded US companies is huge," Winters continued.
The familiar name of Tesla remained at the top.
"Tesla has led the charge for years but seeing Lucid Motors and Rivian also make the list showcases how Superhero customers back electric vehicles as the future," Winters said.
"Rivian in particular is an interesting one, being a favourite among investors despite only listing in mid-November."
ETFs
Despite a strong focus on individual Australian shares, Aussie retail investors tend to favour international ETFs.
According to Superhero, buying international ETFs allows Aussies an exposure to a global market that they may not be familiar with.
"For example, the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (ASX:NDQ) and the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX:ASIA) were the first and second most-traded Aussie ETFs in 2021 respectively," Winters said.
"Both of these ETFs give investors the opportunity to gain exposure to some of the biggest companies in the world in a single transaction," he concludes.
The top 5 most-traded Australian companies between 1 January 2021 and 30 November 2021 (inclusive) were:
- Zip
- Flight Centre
- Fortescue Metals
- Qantas
- Afterpay
US top 5 traded stocks
- Tesla
- Apple
- Lucid
- Rivian
- Alibaba
At the time of publication, Cameron Micallef owned shares in Zip.
