IPOs aren’t the new meme stocks

The market may be producing bigger IPO stories. like SpaceX and Anthropic, but that doesn’t mean retail investors are blindly buying the hype, says Carl Hazeley

If you only read the headlines, you’d think retail investors had found their next obsession: blockbuster IPOs.

SpaceX has dominated the conversation again this week as investors digest its first results as a public company. The coverage about record-breaking retail demand and a new era for public listings would have you believe retail investors have found their next hype trade.

But that mischaracterised what’s actually happening. There’s no doubt the SpaceX IPO was a landmark moment. More than 100,000 UK retail investors applied for shares and its success has already prompted banks and brokers to line up more global IPOs for UK investors. 

The market may be producing bigger IPO stories but that doesn’t mean retail investors are blindly buying the hype.

Ahead of the IPO, almost half of UK retail investors (49 per cent) told us they had no intention of investing in SpaceX. In fact, more investors said they would consider buying Anthropic (35 per cent) than SpaceX itself (24 per cent). Amongst seasoned retail investors, the biggest IPO in years wasn’t viewed as the best investment opportunity. In fact, half of UK investors said they wouldn’t invest in any of these AI IPOs, or were unsure, at the time of polling.

Retail investors have good reason to be selective. Buying the average IPO at the close of its first trading day has delivered annualised returns of around six per cent over the following three years, compared with roughly 11 per cent from a broad US equity index. More than a third of IPOs lose over half their value within three years of listing.

The narrative around IPOs is starting to sound familiar, with retail investors being cast as the market’s ‘dumb money’ – chasing headlines, piling into fashionable names and, perhaps inevitably, getting burned.

Our data points in the opposite direction. Retail investors want the opportunity to invest in the world’s biggest growth companies, but they’re far from all in. They’re weighing up valuations, comparing opportunities and, increasingly, deciding that some of the market’s biggest names aren’t worth the asking price. 

Turns out retail investors just needed a rally

For months, the question has been how to get retail investors to back UK equities.

There have been campaigns and policy interventions aplenty to encourage more investment into British companies. But perhaps the missing ingredient was simpler: confidence that there was something worth buying.

The FTSE 100’s recent run suggests as much. Average daily trades in FTSE 100 stocks on IG’s platform jumped 41 per cent year-on-year in July, as the index rose 3.8 per cent during the month.

Investors haven’t abandoned Britain, rather they’re responding to opportunity. Our latest Modern Investor Pulse data tells a similar story. UK investors already show a stronger pull towards their domestic market than investors globally, with 20.9 per cent planning to increase exposure to UK stocks over the next 12 months – more than double the global figure of 9.1 per cent.

Investors didn’t need a campaign telling them to buy British. Turns out they just needed a rally.

Financial literacy is the missing investment lesson

You might have missed it, but Miquita Oliver’s conversation with Elizabeth Day brought financial literacy into the mainstream – where it belongs.

Her experience with debt and mismanagement of money highlights how too many people reach adulthood without learning how money works. Financial confidence is often inherited, and that gap shapes how people approach things from saving to long-term wealth building.

Financial literacy is how people spot opportunities and avoid mistakes in the first place.

If Britain wants more people investing, engagement shouldn’t start when someone opens their first ISA. It should start much earlier – by giving young people practical, relevant education about money, markets and how wealth is built.

The gender investing gap is not a confidence problem

I recently interviewed Maike Currie on Retail Investors Decoded and we spoke about the gender investing gap. We spoke about the flaws in creating “female-friendly” investing products or telling women they need to be braver. The gender investing gap exists because the industry has spent too long misunderstanding women, not because they’re not interested or capable. What’s true for engaging women is true for engaging anyone – make investing more relevant and accessible. Women don’t need a pink ISA; they need better conversations about building long-term wealth and the power of investing. 

Carl Hazeley is CEO of Finimize