(BFM Stock Exchange) – Between April and the end of June, the number of private investors that bought shares in the financial markets has reached a higher since the end of 2019, according to the latest AMF barometer, which notes a small air hole on the purchase of passive management products.

The spring period was marked by the return of sunny days. But also by the hatching of commercial risk with the reciprocal customs surcharges announced by Donald Trump on April 2.

However, the volatility induced by the numerous flip-flops of the American president on his commercial policy has hardly frightened private investors.

On the contrary, the number of small carriers active on the stock market in the second quarter has been the most important since the second quarter of 2022, reveals the nineteenth edition of the dashboard of private investors active in the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).

Nearly 690,000 buyers in the spring

Since January 2021, the AMF has published a dashboard every three months of individual investors active in the financial markets during the previous quarter. It makes it possible to follow the evolution of the behavior of these market players.

Between April and the end of June, 834,000 individuals have made at least one purchase or sale of shares, an increase of 4% compared to the second quarter of 2024. The AMF had then identified 800,000 individuals who had made at least one purchase or a sale of shares.

In detail, 688,000 investors bought shares between April and late June, a number which climbed 15% over a year, and which increased by more than 12% compared to the previous quarter (613,000). This is the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2019 (767,000) which was then marked by an influx of investors wishing to participate in the IPO of the French Games in November 2019.

And among these investors, some are neophytes or people who had dismissed the scholarship path. The number of new private investors, who had never previously placed stock orders so far or inactive since January 2018, has indeed increased over one year to come out at 67,000 against 56,000 in the second quarter of the year 2024.

A link with the stall of April?

The strong falls of April may have encouraged investors to take action, deeming that there was an interesting point of entry. In November 2024, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) had published a very instructive study on violent stock market dropouts on CAC 40, examining falls of more than 10% on a session.

She noted that the scholars were tended to buy a title when he unscrewed. “We observe that at the time of the stock market dropouts of 2023, the management companies adopted a clearly seller position, while private investors were generally buying during the fall in securities,” wrote the authority. “On average, compared to the daily amounts treated during the 15 days preceding the dropout, the total amounts exchanged by the retail (individuals, editor’s note) double the day of the shock,” she also noted

However, the authority was nuancing this observation by noting that these private investors then had shared reactions during the fifteen days following the dropout, retaining their positions in certain cases while they were in the sale in other cases.

A little blow of the activity on the ETF

To return to the barometer, investors always acclaim the listed index funds (ETF) between April and late June 2025, the number of investors who bought or sold at least a share of ETF reached 415,000, including 376,000 as buyers. However, for the first time in two years, the number of buyers on ETF decreases although it is maintained at a high level.

In total, the AMF identified 2.1 million transactions on ETFs in the second quarter of 2025, a withdrawal of 9 % compared to the previous quarter.

As for the number of transactions made for purchase and sale on European Union shares during the second quarter, the figure has significantly increased from one year to the next, going from 10.3 million to 11.4 million.