Gen Z Women Investors Double Participation In Retail Trading Boom In FY26, Says Report

Generation Z is all over the news for all sorts of reasons. Now, the so-called ‘young and restless’ generation is also increasingly also increasingly changing the way India invests.The Gen Z cohort is increasingly participating more and more in the securities market. Notably, the Gen Z generation is defined as the cohort born between the late 1990s and early 2010s and represents individuals aged 18-30 in the current investment landscape.

According to a report by Axis Direct, the retail broking brand of Axis Securities, investors aged 18 to 30 accounted for 53 per cent of new customer additions in FY26, up from 35 per cent in FY22.

Gen Z Women’s Share In Participation Doubles

Amid the rise in Gen Z’s overall market participation, the participation of women investors has more than doubled. This is evidenced by their share in total new customer additions surging from 6 per cent in FY22 to 13 per cent in FY26. Within the young investor segment of 18 to 30 years, the share of women in new customer additions has also risen from 18 per cent to 24 per cent, pointing to a steady and encouraging increase in female participation among younger market participants.

What Gen Z is Investing In

According to the report, young investors show a preference for equities, with nearly 95 per cent of investors participating in the equity segment. The cohort increasingly finds large-cap stocks as the most preferred category, with around 60 per cent of young investors trading in this segment, followed by small-cap stocks at 28 per cent and ,mid-cap stocks at 25 per cent.

The report said that while delivery-based investing remains more prevalent, active trading is gaining significant traction, as approximately 30 per cent of young investors participated in intraday trading in FY26, indicating a growing interest in short-term market opportunities along with longer-term equity investing.

Sectorally, Gen Z invests in banking, as it is the most traded sector, with around 20 per cent of young investors trading in the segment. Notably the other sectors which were found to gain investor interest from the cohort were telecom services at 19 per cent and finance at 12 per cent. However, their participation is diversified across sectors, such as power, automobiles, IT, capital goods, aerospace and defence, and pharmaceuticals.

Among young investors investing in mutual funds, 76 per cent were found to prefer systematic investment plans (SIPs), compared to 42 per cent who opt for lump-sum investments, as of the first quarter of FY27. According to Axis Direct, the average SIP investment amount ranges between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000, while the average lump sum investment is significantly higher at Rs 2-3 lakh.

Expanding Footprint Beyond Major Metros

The Axis Direct customer data also showed that the retail investment landscape is changing geographically beyond major metros. Approximately 60 per cent of young investors are from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, compared with 40 per cent from metros.

Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata remain key investor hubs. However, cities such as Nashik, Nagpur, Ludhiana, Solapur, Aurangabad, Patna, Indore, Lucknow, Raigarh, and Hooghly have also witnessed significant growth. The trend is also reaching beyond urban centres, with the number of young investors from rural areas increasing 2.50 times in FY26 compared to FY22, reflecting the expanding geographical footprint of young retail investing.

A Younger Investor Base

According to the report, the participation of new customers in this cohort increased nearly sevenfold between FY22 and FY26. The growing influx of younger investors has also brought down the average age of new customers from 37 years in FY22 to 33 years in FY26.

One of the consequences of the average investor age going down is a shift in the capital markets. As Gen Zs begin their investment journeys earlier, they benefit from a significantly longer horizon for wealth compounding, leading to greater long-term financial security. Ultimately, these trends highlight the emergence of a younger, more geographically diverse, and increasingly inclusive retail investor cohort.