Retail investors' share of IPOs/SPOs jumps to 40% in 2024, nears that of institutional investors - CBR

MOSCOW. April 8 (Interfax) - Retail investors in Russia more than doubled their share of public stock offerings in 2024, bringing it nearer to that of institutional investors, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) said in a report on public share placements and offerings last year.

There were a total of 19 public offerings in 2024 - 15 IPOs and four SPOs - that raised 102.1 billion rubles.

Retail investors' share of these offerings grew to 40% or 40.5 billion rubles in 2024 from 18% or 23.6 billion rubles in 2023, the CBR said. An average of about 36,200 individuals invested in each IPO/SPO last year, up from 29,800 in 2023. The maximum number of retail investors in one public offering was 135,000, compared to 87,000 in 2023.

About 70% of all retail investors were classified as unqualified, but qualified investors accounted for most of the money that was invested, 27.3 billion rubles or 27% of the total raised. This investor category's investments in IPOs/SPOs jumped 50% from 2023, while investment by unqualified investors remained flat at 5 billion rubles.

The average investment per transaction by retail investors dropped to 50,000 rubles from 75,000 rubles in 2023. However, wealthy individuals' interest in public offerings increased and the overall amount of investments exceeding 100 million rubles per transaction surged by 290% to 3.9 billion rubles.

The CBR said the share of retail investors who took part in an IPO/SPO only once last year was 39%, which means such investments have not become habitual for them yet. "The lack of steady interest in participating in public offerings from individuals, given the total amount of their investments, could have an impact on a decrease in investment demand," the CBR said.

Institutional investors' share of public offerings amounted to 48% to 48.8 billion rubles in 2024, the report said. Participation in public offerings by asset management companies, lending institutions and other institutional investors was almost unchanged year-on-year, but investment by lenders on this market surged tenfold to 13 billion rubles from 1.3 billion rubles in 2023. Insurers' investments in IPOs/SPOs remained low at just 154 million rubles.

Nonfinancial organizations' share of public offerings doubled to 12% in 2024.