The number of Australian investors holding and buying international stocks has continued to surge in 2021 with a particular focus on leaders in technology and decarbonisation.
Reporting released by nabtrade showed that investors currently hold more Tesla shares than local blue-chip stocks such as Rio Tinto, Woodside Petroleum and Woolworths.
“The trend of buying direct international shares has been growing at a much higher rate than domestic shares for the last five years, but investors still hold the bulk of their wealth in Australian equities,” said nabtrade director of investing behaviour Gemma Dale.
“To see an international stock, particularly a newer, more volatile company like Tesla, just outside the top 10 holdings on nabtrade is extraordinary.”
Ms Dale noted that there had been a rise in interest in sectors that are not well represented on the ASX including solar energy, electric vehicles and green hydrogen.
While the popularity of international shares continues to grow, new investors still predominantly invest locally with ASX 200 ETFs, the big four banks, BHP and CSL ranking among the top 10 buys of 2021.
The number of new accounts opened through nabtrade in the past year rose 200 per cent following a significant spike in new account openings in 2020 that peaked at 500 per cent.
CommSec recently reported that over one million new accounts had been opened through its platform since the start of last year.
Jon Bragg
Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.
