Australian retail investors have different priorities to New Zealanders when it comes to investing online, according to analysis by a share-trading app.
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Sharesies, which expanded into the Australian market in April, found New Zealand investors were more interested in green investments, which accounted for 2.1 percent of their portfolio versus 1.5 percent for Australians.
The Sharesies app allows investors to buy a fraction of a share, which makes it much easier for investors with small amounts to buy stocks.
More than 60 percent of New Zealand investors using Sharesies to invest in the ASX were under the age of 40, with fewer than one in ten over the age of 60 (7.4 percent).
Sharesies chief executive and founder Leighton Roberts said the Australian business, which was still in pre-launch mode, had already gathered 6000 Australian customers, compared with nearly 400,000 New Zealand subscribers.
"Just over 30,000 investors now using the ASX through Sharesies, so that number tends to grow every day and we expect there'll be more take up as more and more people start to look at what's happening over here as well," Roberts said.
"We're seeing a lot of people choose to invest in the Australian shares. And I guess not surprisingly a lot of those choosing to invest in New Zealand companies that are available on the Australian Stock Exchange."
The most popular investment among New Zealand investors in the ASX was the cloud accounting software firm, Xero, which delisted from the NZX in early 2018.
They also invested more in United States markets at 55 percent, followed by the NZX at 36 percent and ASX at 9 percent.
That compared with Australians' preference for investment in their own market at 58 percent, with 34 percent in Wall Street markets and 8 percent in the NZX.
One similarity that jumped out from the data was the amount of money invested in the US-listed largest movie theatre business in the world, AMC Entertainment Holdings, which had developed a cult status among younger investors.
It ranked number one in buy orders for Australian investors and number two by New Zealanders.
The data was collected by Sharesies over a near three-month period from 6 April to 22 June.
