Thread by @wolfejosh

1/ The shift from mostly INDIVIDUAL retail investors to concentrated institutional over last two generations––and the growing shift back to INDIVIDUAL retail investors

is underappreciated strutural phenom of inflows/outflows

We make fun of the RobinHood, TradeRepublic...

2/ And the vast majority of them will LOSE their money and GAIN experience––

and get exploited by more cunning investors + mgmt teams
(front-running quants, huckster CEOs)

But the capital formation it is fueling + will fuel (at a time of already low rates) is scary large...

3/ Consider ANT Financial

China funds raised just for the IPO sold out in days––raising $9 billion from 10 million RETAIL INVESTORS.

Many institutions wouldnt touch this company for gigantic glaring interparty + accounting issues.

But ANT will get to keep the money.

4/
21,000 retail investors “copytrade” this 32yr old allocating ~$40M into stocks

1st reaction: aghast

2nd reaction: why not?
His popularity will ebb + flow––not with hype––but whether he makes good investments (or gets lucky)

Like any celeb investor
trib.al/2sWYdmQ

5/ Morgan Stanley now owns ETrade + Eaton Vance (acquired for $7B)
...