Investment Trends has just released results from the firm’s latest annual survey of the Singapore retail trading market. The firm is aggregating information from over 5,700 investors and traders in the region between August and October earlier this year.

The findings in the 2017 Singapore CFD and FX Report show that trader numbers in the country are growing. In the past 12 months, total clients increased by 2,000 to about 30,000. A figure which is quite impressive considering that the total population of the country stands at 5.6 million.

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Increasingly low volatility on the Singapore equities market might have been a factor for the shift to FX and CFDs during the period. Albeit moderate, the increase is underpinning that the main area of growth for brokers continues to be the Far East.

Commenting on the findings, the Research Director at Investment Trends, Dr Irene Guiamatsia, said: “Leverage trader numbers increased amid relatively stable equity markets.”

According to the report the number of consistently active traders over the past two years compared to existing traders was the highest on record.

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The market is experiencing record high levels of switching activity with traders shifting between brokers.

One factor which might have contributed to this trend is the rise of Bitcoin. IG Group has been the only brokerage in the market that is offering CFDs on the top cryptocurrency. The demand from clients so far hasn’t driven brokers to take on risk onto their books.

“The trading of cryptocurrencies is still very niche in Singapore, but there is significant growth potential if traders’ current intentions are converted,” Mrs Guiamatsia explains.

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