Driving Retail Investments in European Markets

Many European retail investors to prioritise domestic stocks, followed by US equities, and only then consider those from other European markets. As a result, the debate about how to increase household participation in Europe is less about enthusiasm and more about infrastructure and facilitating more cross-border activity.

The purpose of this report is to set out the shape of this architecture as it stands, examine where retail behaviour is evolving fastest and identify the institutional reforms most likely to enable broader household participation. It is based on the discussion at the roundtable held by The Broker Club, hosted by Cboe, but also reflects the wider body of evidence emerging from regulators, industry groups and platform data. The through-line is straightforward: retail demand exists, but the means of satisfying that demand is fragmented.

Cboe Europe’s contribution to the roundtable, particularly early findings from its recently-introduced pan-European Best Bid and Offer (EBBO) retail service, underscored that European exchanges can deliver meaningful solutions, along with the potential for price improvement, for retail participants when incentives are aligned.