Retail Trading Surges in IHSG
In the first full week of 2026, retail investors have continued to assert their dominance in the Indonesian stock market after six consecutive months of contributing >50% to the average daily trading value in IHSG.
Data from Stockbit Sekuritas, which has the largest retail investor base in Indonesia, show that the top 25% of its clients booked more than +34% portfolio returns in 2025, outperforming IHSG’s gain of +22%.
Additionally, the top 10% recorded returns of more than +104%, while the top 5% secured returns exceeding +200% last year; indicating that retail investors comfortably outperformed the majority of mutual fund performances in 2025.
Consequently, despite the common narrative that individual investors typically lag institutional investors, this market cycle appears to have positioned them as the new smart money.
Whether this trend is sustainable remains uncertain. However, judging from historical periods such as in 2020 to 2022, this phenomenon is likely cyclical in nature.
Nevertheless, as retail investors are currently the key force moving IHSG, identifying their stock preferences can help gauge market sentiment, flow direction, and potentially signal cycle peaks and troughs.
