In the first quarter of 2023, the flow of money from individual investors into brokerage accounts reached 285 billion rubles, marking the highest level since late 2021. This figure comes from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in its overview of key indicators for professional participants in the securities market. In that period, the total assets held by individual investors through intermediary institutions stood at about 7 trillion rubles, underscoring a continuing trend among Russians to place funds into equities and fixed income securities. Within the asset mix, resident corporate participation accounted for roughly 30 percent, while bonds comprised around 32 percent. Foreign asset holdings slipped to about 28 percent, a decline attributed to the issuance of substitute bonds and the sale of foreign securities on existing trading venues. This shift signals a broader reallocation pattern driven by market adaptations and investor preferences. (Source: Central Bank of the Russian Federation)
The client base of brokerage firms expanded, covering approximately 24.5 million individuals. The average size of an active account rose from about 1.3 million rubles to 1.4 million rubles, when counting accounts that are not empty. Yet a substantial portion of accounts remained dormant; only roughly one in eight accounts held more than 10,000 rubles in assets. The bulk of assets tended to cluster in accounts belonging to qualified investors, which represented a small share of the overall customer base, less than 2 percent. (Source: Central Bank of the Russian Federation)
According to data from the Moscow Exchange, individual investors began to dominate the trading landscape on the Moscow Stock Exchange in the previous year. Their share of trading activity rose from 41 percent to 81.5 percent, and the number of individual investors active by April 2022 reached about 25 million. This growth is linked to the withdrawal of foreign participants and a simultaneous decline in deposit yields, which redirected activity toward domestic markets and household portfolios. (Source: Moscow Exchange)
Taken together, these figures illustrate a shift toward greater individual participation in Russia’s securities market. The expanding investor base, the rising average account size, and the concentration of assets among a minority of highly active accounts reflect evolving risk preferences and opportunities within the domestic financial system. Market observers see this as part of a broader calibration of demand stemming from macroeconomic conditions, policy signals, and the evolving structure of available investment instruments. (Source: Central Bank of the Russian Federation)