Majority retail investors plan to invest in IPOs this year, says survey; Crypto, US stocks among bets for 2022

Majority of Indian retail investors plan to allocate their investments in initial public offerings (IPOs) encouraged by stellar performance of various IPOs in 2021, according to a survey conducted by investment platform Groww. Cryptocurrencies, US-listed stocks, digital gold and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) were also among some of the other investment classes that retail investors plan to bet on in 2022, the survey published on Wednesday said. 60% of the respondents said in the survey that they will likely explore IPOs in 2022, however, about one-fourth of the respondents said they will not explore new asset classes.

“Over the last year, more than 60 companies had raised ₹1,18,704 crore (USD 15.4 billion) through IPOs. Also, a plethora of renowned companies are all set to take the IPO segment by storm in the year 2022. These are not limited to the tech space only, but include companies from across sectors including insurance, finance, aviation, power, construction, healthcare and more,” Harsh Jain, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Groww, told Financial Express Online.

More than half of the investors who participated in the survey said they are planning to invest in IT stocks, Groww said. Apart from IT stocks, investors also plan to invest in penny stocks, pharma, real estate and FMCG. More than 90% of the respondents who participated in the survey were within the age bracket of 18 to 40 years.

“We are witnessing a retail investing boom which is fueled by smaller towns and cities all over the country. Tech investing platforms, a strong regulator, and the government’s push for digitization have unlocked the access to investing for thousands of retail investors all over the country,” Jain said in the statement.

In 2021, nearly 30% of the investors said they made returns higher than expected or significantly higher than expected, while 44% of the investors said they made returns from their investments as they expected. About one-fourth of the investors said they incurred losses. Responding to their outlook for 2022, a majority of respondents said they anticipate a steady or a bullish stock market ride until June 2022, while only 11.2% foresee a bearish phase, the survey said.

Overall, the survey findings showed that a majority of semi-urban and rural Indian investors were satisfied with the performance of their investments in 2021. About 44% of the respondents were satisfied by the returns generated in 2021. While less than 5% were dissatisfied with their investments.