Presenting Superhero’s Year in Trades 2023

To say that 2023 was a rollercoaster may be an understatement. We bounced back from the market lows of 2022, seeing the market rise significantly despite concerns of high inflation and rising interest rates. In fact, the ASX 200 was close to notching a new record high while the Nasdaq-100 finished the year with a gain of nearly 54%!

Before we leave last year completely in the rearview mirror, it’s time to review how you, our Superheroes, invested in 2023.

Presenting Superhero’s Year in Trades 2023!

Miners remain the most loved on the ASX

The way our Superheroes invest has changed significantly since we launched our first Year in Trades.

2021 saw our investors flock to technology and travel stocks, 2022 saw lithium and iron ore stocks become ASX darlings and 2023 saw sustained interest in these commodities.

While our Superheroes look to be long term believers in Australia’s mining sector, there was also a noticeable increase in the trading activity of well-known Aussie ‘blue chips’ including CBA and ANZ.

1. 1. 1. Pilbara Minerals – ASX:PLS (↑ from #2)
      2. Core Lithium – ASX:CXO (↓ from #1)
      3. Qantas – ASX:QAN (↑ from #12)
      4. BHP – ASX:BHP (same position as 2022)
      5. Fortescue Metals Group – ASX:FMG (↓ from #3)
      6. Sayona Mining – ASX:SYA (same position as 2022)
      7. Commonwealth Bank of Australia – ASX:CBA (↑ from #14)
      8. ANZ – ASX:ANZ (↑ from #16)
      9. Zip Co – ASX:Z1P (↑ from #10)
      10. Liontown Resources – ASX:LTR (↓ from #8)

Click to read more about each of the top 10 ASX stocks. 

The Magnificent Seven unsurprisingly make it to the top

As if to prove that they’re worth their title, the Magnificent Seven stocks were recorded to be Superhero’s top seven most traded U.S. stocks of 2023. Though then again, they already were in 2022 – just in a different order.

Meanwhile, AI stocks Palantir and C3.ai jumped up the ranks to join the top 10, likely in response to the increasing conversation and interest in artificial intelligence and its capabilities. 

1. 1. 1. Tesla – NASDAQ:TSLA (same position as 2022)
      2. Apple – NASDAQ:AAPL (same position as 2022)
      3. Nvidia – NASDAQ:NVDA (↑ from #7)
      4. Alphabet – NASDAQ:GOOGL (same position as 2022)
      5. Amazon – NASDAQ:AMZN (↓ from #3)
      6. Microsoft – NASDAQ:MSFT (↓ from #5)
      7. Meta- NASDAQ:META  (↓ from #6)
      8. Palantir – NASDAQ:PLTR (↑ from #16)
      9. C3.ai – NYSE:AI (↑ from #180)
      10. Coinbase – NASDAQ:COIN (↑ from #25)

It was the Year of the ASX ETFs

Diversify and chill could be the motto for a number of our Superheroes in 2023. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) were loved with the total trading volume of the top five most traded ETFs on Superhero overshadowing the trading volumes of both the top 10 ASX and U.S. companies.

Interestingly, index ETFs made their mark on our investors with the three top traded Aussie ETFs tracking the ASX 200, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indices respectively. 

1. 1. 1. Vanguard Australian Shares – ASX:VAS (↑ from #2)
      2. Betashares Nasdaq 100 – ASX:NDQ(↓ from #1)
      3. iShares S&P 500 – ASX:IVV (↑ from #11)
      4. Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index – ASX:VDHG (↓ from #3)
      5. BetaShares Australia 200 – ASX:A200 (↑ from #10)

Did you know?

Nearly half of all Superheroes (45%!) held at least one ETF in their portfolio at the end of 2023!

It’s all about calculated risk baby

While index ETFs topped the ASX list, the U.S. was a different story with investors seeking to amplify market performance through a select number of leveraged ETFs currently unavailable in the AU market. Leveraged ETFs seek to multiply the gains or losses of an index and four of the top five most traded US ETFs (after VOO) in 2023 were leveraged.

Interestingly, even the two thematic ETFs (BOIL and SOXL) in the top five are leveraged.

However, it seems like these types of ETFs are just a small part of our Superheroes’ long term investing strategies with neither TQQQ, SQQQ, BOIL nor SOXL among the top 100 held securities on the platform.  

1. 1. 1. Vanguard S&P 500 – NYSE:VOO (↑ from #3)
      2. ProShares UltraPro QQQ  – NASDAQ:TQQQ (↓ from #1)
      3. ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ – NASDAQ:SQQQ (↓ from #2)
      4. ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas – NYSE:BOIL (↑ from #22)
      5. Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X – NYSE:SOXL (same at #5)

Market leaders have become favourite stocks

We know our Superheroes like to invest across sectors – from travel to technology to healthcare – and we’ve seen a bit of a change in the companies you invested in, in 2023. 

In the travel sector, Qantas soared past Flight Centre, while in the mining arena, Pilbara Minerals eclipsed Core Lithium. In the healthcare domain, CSL gained ground against the healthtech newcomer, Imugene. Moreover, in the realm of ASX20 stocks, BHP took the lead from Fortescue.

Is it a question of our Superheroes backing big names when faced with an inflationary economic environment?

Long investment time horizon… but risk averse?

Younger investors may have a reputation as impulse driven or risk taking crusaders but this year’s trading data shows otherwise. Younger investors on Superhero (we’re talking to you Gen Z and Millennials!) actually opted to invest into index-tracking ETFs – a choice that prioritises greater diversification over the potential for higher returns. 

Contrarily it was the older investors on Superhero who sought the higher return potential (and volatility) single stocks provide – with Tesla being their top choice for trading.

The trading patterns exhibited by each generation diverge from conventional investment wisdom. Traditionally, the belief is that those with extended investment horizons, typically younger investors, are better able to weather market fluctuations. As a result, they may opt for “riskier” assets such as individual stocks. Meanwhile, those with shorter time frames in the market might find better alignment with diversified portfolios like index-tracking ETFs.

With markets ending the year with strong growth despite high inflation and tightening monetary policies, 2023 was truly a year to remember. We wonder what stocks will catch your eye in 2024! 👀