The FSMA has published the latest edition of its Retail Investor Dashboard. This quarterly publication provides an overview of the behaviour of Belgian retail investors.
Investor engagement fell in the second quarter of 2025
About 200,000 Belgian retail investors traded in shares in the second quarter of 2025. In addition, 110,000 Belgian retail investors traded in ETFs and 16,000 in bonds in the same period. These figures indicate a decrease in the number of active investors in all three types of instruments, as compared to the previous quarter. The decrease may be due to a seasonal effect[1]. Moreover, the number of active investors in ETFs has fallen, on a quarterly basis, for the first time since the second quarter of 2023.
In the second quarter of 2025, 18,000, 21,000 and 4,000 Belgian retail investors traded for the first time in shares, ETFs and bonds respectively. ETFs once again attracted more new investors than did shares.
The fall in the number of active investors has also led to a decrease in the number of transactions. In relative terms, the fall in the number of transactions was the smallest for shares and the largest for ETFs. In the second quarter of 2025, Belgian retail investors carried out a little more than 1.4 million share transactions, about 5 per cent lower than in the previous three months. The number of ETF transactions fell by almost 15 per cent to about 354,000. Furthermore, Belgian retail investors carried out almost 25,000 transactions in bonds, a decrease of a little more than 10 per cent compared to the previous quarter. These decreases may be due to a seasonal effect.
The number of investors in shares has remained stable from year to year, whilst the annual number of investors in ETFs continues to rise
In 2024, about 357,000 Belgian retail investors carried out at least one transaction in shares. Almost 60 per cent of them were over 50 years of age, whilst a quarter were under 40. Between 2021 and 2024, the annual number of investors in shares rose by just 5,000. About half of the investors in shares carried out at least five share transactions per year, whilst about a third traded in shares at least 10 times. Over the years, the number of Belgian retail investors who bought shares each quarter has fallen slightly. In 2024, this amounted to about 50,000 investors.
In addition, in 2024 some 152,000 Belgian retail investors carried out at least one transaction in ETFs. That is almost triple the number in 2020, when there were 56,000 investors in ETFs. In 2024, almost half of all investors in ETFs were under 40. The size of this age group has quadrupled since 2020. The size of the other age groups is increasing gradually: between 2020 and 2024, the number of investors in ETFs aged 60 and older has almost doubled. About one third of the investors in ETFs conducted at least five ETF transactions per year, whereas between 10 and 15 per cent of them carried out at least ten. Over the years, the number of Belgian retail investors who purchased ETFs each quarter has risen significantly – a development that may point to periodic investments as part of a long-term strategy. In 2024, this amounted to about 15,000 investors.
The segment of new investors in both shares and ETFs is getting younger
In 2024, 68,000 Belgian retail investors invested in shares for the first time via a Belgian broker. Although the number of new investors in shares has clearly fallen in recent years, as compared to the peak in 2020, the percentage of investors under the age of 40 rose during the same period. By contrast with investors in shares, the number of new investors in ETFs has remained stable at around 30,000 since 2020. In 2024, however, the number of new investors in ETFs increased sharply, to 70,000. This sudden rise was driven chiefly by investors under 40, and may be due to a positive market sentiment, growing interest in passive investment and lower transaction costs.
[1] As a result of an increase in the number of the reporting entities, the figures provided below may be higher than in previous publications.