S'pore stock market a useful springboard for young investors

But they are likely to look for opportunities elsewhere after gaining experience: Expert

- Chor Khieng Yuit

The local share market is hardly a hotbed of investor action these days, but it does serve as a useful springboard for first-timers looking to dip their toes into stock trading.

"From the perspective of a young person who is starting out to learn to invest, there is no better sandbox," notes Mr Lawrence Tan, content lead and lead trainer at the Institute for Financial Literacy. However, he adds that the market here is small and "a bit lacking" in dynamism, so investors will look for opportunities elsewhere as they become more experienced.

Stock markets in the US have been smashing records one after the other, so much so they have caught the eye of Singapore investors seeking higher returns.

Data from online brokerage Tiger Brokers shows that 89.5 per cent of its users in Singapore have been trading in US stocks in 2024.

Singapore remains the secondmost popular market for Tiger's clients, with 21.4 per cent of users dabbling in local equities, but this is down from 25.1 per cent in 2023.

Other online trading platforms are observing similar investment trends in US and Singapore stocks.

Mr Gavin Chia, chief executive of Moomoo Singapore, says investors here are increasingly allocating more funds into overseas markets, but keeping Singapore stocks as a "staple in their portfolio".

Moomoo Singapore's clients who made profits in the first half of 2024 allocated an average of 75 per cent of their equity portfolio to the US markets, and 20 per cent to Singapore stocks.