Majority of traders prefer online platforms over banks

Instead of financial institutions, online traders rely on family and friends for stock advice.

More than 7 in 10 or 73% of Singaporean traders prefer to use online trading platforms instead of banks and stockbrokers, according to a study by YouGov commissioned by brokerage firm eToro.

More Singaporeans also rely on friends (34%), family (42%) and partners (26%) for financial advice than consulting a financial expert.

The report also found that traders carry a gloomy outlook for the future of financial markets. Majority said they think markets will remain flat (13%), decline (18%) or crash (21%). Only 20% have a positive view of growth.

Those who do not trade or invest actively do so due to concerns about losses and risk taking (46%). Meanwhile, 39% said that they lack confidence whilst 25% indicated that they have zero experience.

But 49% of local non-recent traders will be encouraged to trade again if they receive guidance from different data sources on how to interpret the data. Non-recent traders will also begin trading again if they receive demonstration or advice from a peer demonstration (36%) and if they could easily invest by themes (20%).

The same survey revealed that most local traders are millennial-aged men with a median household income of more than $100,000, with 52% trading to increase their existing earnings whilst 23% did so for a quick profit. Most of them favor stocks (71%) over bonds (38%).

Stocks are increasingly gaining traction in the trading scene (40%), followed by exchange trade funds (ETFs) at 36% and cryptocurrencies at 32%.

Photo courtesy of Pexels.