Private investors poured record sums into securities on the Moscow Exchange in May 2025, marking a 33% jump year-on-year, according to Moscow Exchange.

While brokerage account registrations continued to rise steadily, actual trading participation showed little change, signaling a growing but not necessarily more active retail base.

Nearly 37 Million Brokerage Accounts

At the end of May, the number of individuals holding brokerage accounts on MOEX reached 36.9 million, up by 287,000 from April. Collectively, they had opened almost 69 million accounts.

However, only 3.6 million individuals actually made trades, maintaining a plateau well below the February 2024 record of 4.1 million traders. Among active users, just 315,000, or around 9%, qualified as professional investors, suggesting that most of MOEX’s traffic still comes from retail players.

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Investments from private individuals reached 156.2 billion rubles in May 2025, up sharply from 117.4 billion rubles a year earlier. Stock purchases surged 2.3 times year-on-year to 25.6 billion rubles.

Bond investments accounted for the bulk, 113.8 billion rubles, a 28% rise. Fund units rounded out the total with 16.8 billion rubles. Retail investors were dominant in equity trading, making up 74% of volume in shares and ETFs, and 33% of bond trades.

Morning and Evening Trading Sessions Gain Popularity

Sberbank’s ordinary shares were reportedly the most popular retail holding in May, making up 31.4% of portfolios, with its preferred shares adding another 7%. LUKOIL (14.8%) and Gazprom (13.3%) followed.

ETF and mutual fund activity centered on money market funds. The top five were LQDT (39.6%), SBMM (21.3%), AKMM (17.2%), BCSD (2.3%), and AMNR (2.1%).

More than 440,000 investors participated in morning sessions, during which 174 instruments, including all 57 OFZs, were available. Retail participants made up 88% of the volume in morning trading and 81% in evening trading, showing a distinct preference for off-peak hours.

These sessions accounted for 11% and 16% of overall daily turnover, respectively. Weekend trading also saw modest traction, representing 4.5% of May’s stock market volume.

The number of individual investment accounts climbed to 6.08 million, with 45,000 added in May. These accounts generated a total turnover of 234.3 billion rubles for the month.

Shares dominated activity at 61%, followed by fund units (23%) and bonds (16%). In parallel development, MOEX introduced futures trading linked to Bitcoin, which is available exclusively to qualified investors.

Source: Finance Magnates