The 10 most traded securities among Gen Z investors using the Selfwealth trading platform in FY24 comprised eight exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and two S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining shares.
Trading activity data published by Selfwealth Ltd (ASX: SWF) shows the investment choices of its Gen Z clientele mirror broader industry trends, showing younger investors are more inclined to buy ASX ETFs.
By comparison, baby boomers tend to prefer traditional blue-chip ASX 200 dividend-paying shares.
Let's dig into the data.
ASX 200 shares not as popular as ETFs
Selfwealth said Gen Z clients, who were born between 1996 and 2010, showed "the greatest relative interest in ETFs of any age group" in FY24.
Gen Zs bought and sold a mix of ETFs tracking ASX 300 and ASX 200 shares, US shares, and other international stocks.
ETFs are baskets of equities that provide easy diversification in a single trade for one brokerage fee.
The data also shows that Gen Zs feel a stronger level of buying conviction and engagement with their 10 favourite ETFs and ASX 200 shares than other generations.
In a report, Selfwealth said:
Overall, the top ten most actively traded securities by Gen Z investors accounted for 32.4% of all trades made by this group, which was over 12 percentage points higher than Millennials, and nearly 20 percentage points higher than the segment with the lowest concentration (Gen X).
The average buy-to-sell ratio among the top 10 ETFs and ASX 200 shares was 79.3%. Selfwealth said this demonstrated "a long-term focus among this segment of young investors".
Overall, Gen Z investors placed buy and sell orders on 2,423 unique securities in FY24.
This was a far narrower range of securities than other generations. For example, millennials placed trades on 4,985 ETFs, ASX 200 shares, and other securities — more than double the number traded by Gen Zs.
10 most traded ASX 200 shares and other securities
Here are the top 10 most traded securities by volume among Selfwealth's Gen Z investors in FY24.
The percentage of buy orders is also reported alongside each security.
| Rank | Top securities by trading volume | Percentage of buy orders |
| 1 | Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) | 80.8% |
| 2 | Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index ETF (ASX: VDHG) | 74.9% |
| 3 | Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) | 83.8% |
| 4 | iShares S&P 500 AUD ETF (ASX: IVV) | 86.1% |
| 5 | Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) | 78.1% |
| 6 | BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) | 77.8% |
| 7 | BetaShares Diversified All Growth ETF (ASX: DHHF) | 83.4% |
| 8 | Vanguard US Total Market Shares Index AUD ETF (ASX: VTS) | 78.7% |
| 9 | BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) | 66.7% |
| 10 | Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) | 62.8% |
