F&C: GameStop saga prompts Gen Z to invest for the first time

16% became investors over the past year

The GameStop saga earlier this year has captured the imagination of the UK’s youngest generation of investors, with the past 12 months proving seismic in prompting young people to invest for the first time.

According to research from F&C investment trust, 16% of Gen Zs became first time investors over the past year. The GameStop frenzy prompted one in ten (9%) Gen Zs (18-23) to start investing for the first time, equivalent to just over 455,000 young adults The saga not only influenced their initial decision to invest, but their investment approach too, with 62% of Gen Z investors deciding to invest in "Reddit stocks" as the events unfolded. In February,  retail investors associated with Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets (r/WSB) piled in as part of a coordinated attack on hedge funds, via a ...