Two in five millennials now investing in property and shares to grow their wealth: CommBank

New research from the Commonwealth Bank has challenged one of the major misconceptions surrounding millennials: that they are a generation of spenders.

A study of 1,002 Australians commissioned by the bank and conducted by YouGov Galaxy in April found that 43% of millennials are actively investing their money with the ultimate goal of becoming financially independent.

In terms of investment priorities, property (45%) and share trading (38%) were the most popular options for young Aussie investors, while a quarter of respondents also said that they were topping up their superannuation in addition to employer contributions.

Commonwealth Bank’s research also captured what could be a generational shift in attitudes when it comes to talking about investing.

Rather than being a taboo topic, the vast majority (86%) of millennials surveyed said that they wanted to have ‘more open discussions’ about investing their money, particularly about trading on the stock market.

And given the surge in interest towards online share trading during the pandemic period, that’s perhaps not much of a surprise.

According to figures from CommSec, just under two thirds (63%) of the one million new CommSec share trading accounts which have been opened since February 2020 are held by millennial users.

The entry-level CommSec Pocket option - which offers a selection of “themed” exchange traded funds (ETFs) for users to invest in - has also proved popular with younger investors, with the bank noting that 80% of the 300,000 accounts opened since 2019 have come from under-40’s.

“We are seeing a behavioural shift from this younger demographic of investors,” said CommSec’s managing director, Richard Burns. “Seventy-one per cent are using CommSec’s leading mobile platforms for trading and there is strong demand for global exposure with Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and International equities proving to be a popular starting point for investment."

“Female investors are also growing in number and increasingly turning to CommSec Pocket to start their investment journey, accounting for 44 per cent of total new account openings – up from 31 per cent pre-COVID.”

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Thinking about dipping your toes in the stock market? Well before you get trading, you might be interested in reading about some of the best share trading platforms in Australia (including CommSec Pocket) as named in our 2021 Mozo Experts Choice Awards.

Otherwise if you’re interested in comparing a range of accounts on everything from features, brokerage and other fees, head on over to our dedicated share trading account comparison table to get started.