Teens will bring young people under 26 together in a new sharing forum – E24

On Facebook, stock groups have appeared in increasing numbers in recent years. There are separate ones for women, for shareholders in Lillehammer and for others completely new to the market.

Last Sunday, “Aksjeforum: Ung Investor” had more than 1,000 members. The forum has a maximum age limit of 25 years and was created by Rasmus Berger (17) and Markus Kittelsen (16) to give young people a place where they can learn from each other and ask questions.

Both the number of shareholders and the shares traded have increased dramatically in recent years, according to figures from Aksje Norge. Among newcomers to the stock market, young people under 30 are especially represented. This group is exactly the one Kittelsen and Berger would like to include in their forum.

– The plan with the group is that there will be a lower threshold to request new young actors. There are many who ask about savings, funds, BSU and individual stocks, and so far they have received good responses in the group, says Kittelsen.

He bought his first shares at age 14.

– Among those we pass, most are in their early 20s, but some are under 18 and some older people have also tried to get in, says Berger.

He thinks it’s funny that the older ones try to sneak in to find out what the younger ones are talking about. For Berger, it was a school teacher who gave him clues about stocks as a form of savings. He saw that the investments he had made in funds were performing well. This gave it more flavor, and in April of last year it bought its first shares.

Kittelsen, on the other hand, says she learned a lot from her family members. He bought his first shares when he was 14 years old. The first stocks he bought were large, stable, highly-traded companies such as Norwegian Equinor and American Apple. Over time, you have felt that you can take more risks and buy and sell more often now than before.

They both believe that they have benefited from being able to talk to others. Now they hope their forum will give more young people the opportunity to ask about stock trading and savings.

– You notice a lot of difference in level between the members of the group. Some are new and some have been around for a while. So far there have only been good discussions and facts. This is how we want it, says Kittelsen.

The teens plan to be able to post weekly portfolios and company reviews for forum members, and they believe they will be able to compete with other forums for quality and content.

NHH professor recommends funds

– Exchange forums are generally a good thing, given that aggressive risk-averse people don’t control conversations, Thore Johnsen, a finance professor at the Norwegian School of Management, tells E24.

You have been informed about the equity forum for young investors under 26 and the growth of young shareholders in 2020. You consider this to be a positive development.

According to Johnsen, young people benefit from learning about finance and it is good for the Norwegian economy that people, in general, are interested in saving on the stock market. However, the precondition is that those who buy shares are aware of the risk involved.

– Stocks don’t just go up, down and down. The sky is by no means the limit. It is much less. If you choose individual stocks, it will be like a lottery. The profit can be large and there can also be potential losses.

– If you can’t beat them, better merge them. Buy all. Preferably through funds, he says.

He adds that a lot can be learned through experience, but also points out that he is good with finance courses to better familiarize himself with the risks and returns in the financial market. Young people should be happy to receive education to improve precisely in this, notes the teacher.

– At the same time, when you’re young, big impersonal backgrounds get boring. Do you want to have fun. So he would rather buy his own shares. So one piece of advice is to treat it like a game on the jogging track: spread your risk and don’t bet more than you can afford to lose, he says.

Young men are more risk averse than young women

Aksje Norge has seen great growth among young equity buyers over the past year. Shareholders between the ages of 20 and 29 have grown by 77% and their invested value has increased by 93%.

They record that most people, including young people, invest most of their money in stable companies such as Hydro, Telenor, Orkla, Equinor, and DNB.

However, this is not the whole story. For example, three companies stand out that have been volatile until 2020 and that at the same time have attracted many young women and men. These three are Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS), Kongsberg Automotive (KOA) and Aker Solution (AKSO).

They also find that young men are clearly more willing than young women to choose higher risk stocks. Young men under the age of 30 represent approximately 18 per cent of NAS Norwegian shareholders. They own an average of NAS shares of NOK 3,083, which in total represents only one percent of the company’s values. Women own an average of NAS shares of NOK 2,068.

According to Aksje Norge, growth among young people under 18 is difficult to measure because much of the trading is done through shared savings accounts owned by parents. These accounts are often transferred to children when they turn 18. This may mean that some 18-year-old newly registered stock traders have already traded stocks for several years before registering.

You must have permission to buy

Nordnet writes on its website that young people under the age of 18 should be able to shop with them, but that it requires a signature and parental identification, among other things.

DNB writes in an email to E24 that they are allowing parents to shop for youth under the age of 18.

Nordea tells E24 that they do not allow it, but that they observe that parents still buy for their children in some cases in their market. Although the wording is different, the trade for youth under 18 is roughly the same in all trading venues. It is carried out with the approval of the parents and BankID.

Although both Markus Kittelsen and Rasmus Berger experience that mom and dad’s phone slows them down when they want to attack a business, their parents haven’t stopped either of them from making a trade.

– In fact, I have not encountered any resistance. I can do practically what I like. I learn from recessions and when things are going well. Both the loss and the gain, Kittelsen says.

The same applies to Berger. She says she finds no resistance from her mother in the purchases she wants to do. Often times, the mother will also participate in the trading of the stocks she has analyzed, something that she does not particularly like. If things go wrong, you don’t want to feel responsible for the loss of yourself, friends, or schoolmates.

– It is disturbing when buying a share. I think it would have been better if you could do it yourself, but at the same time, when you are young and may not know exactly what you are buying, it may be okay for parents to have to approve, Kittelsen adds.

Kittelsen and Berger’s parents point out that the two are not allowed to trade above a certain amount, and the money they spend on the stock market is money they must be able to afford to lose.