The number of investors using ETFs in France has almost doubled from the same quarter last year, signalling the continuation of the retail growth story in France.
The number of investors buying or selling ETFs last quarter hit 248,000, rising from 131,000 in Q2 2023, according to the Authorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) Active Retail Investor dashboard.
This was up 15% from the previous quarter, marking a slightly slower increase from the previous quarter on quarter growth of 36%.
New ETF investors also matched the number of first-time investors in individual shares in Q2 for the first time, at 56,000.
It marks a fresh milestone for ETF investors in France. In Q1 2024, the number of ETF transactions hit 1 million for the first time, with a slight increase in to 1.2 million transactions in the second quarter.
France is set to see the number of ETF saving plans quadruple over the next five years, according to research conducted by BlackRock and extraETF.
Neobrokers across the continent are also responsible for the increased retail uptake of ETFs, with Scalable Capital announcing in July it is set to offer over 300 Amundi ETFs on its platform .
The variety of ETPs available to retail investors is also increasing in the region. VanEck partnered with Inter Invest to offer the first bitcoin exposure through a French pension savings plan via its bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN).
The AMF has also been upping its regulatory oversight of ETFs, signalling that it could relax transparency rules for active ETFs domiciled in France after it paved the way for active ETFs to list in France for the first time.
