Around 79% of Polish individual investors currently own stock related to artificial intelligence (AI) or plan to purchase it in the future. Poland is one of the leaders in owning AI-related stocks, following the Czech Republic and the USA. Young investors, specifically those aged 18-34, show the most interest as 40% of them are exposed to AI-related stocks.
According to the latest individual investor survey titled ‘Puls Inwestora Indywidualnego,’ conducted by the investment-trading platform eToro, nearly a third (31%) of individual investors in Poland currently have AI-related stocks in their investment portfolios.
In the survey conducted among 10,000 individual investors across 13 countries, investors were asked about their involvement in companies developing or investing in AI. While 31% of Polish investors already own such shares, another 48% stated that they plan to invest in companies dealing with AI in the future. The survey reveals that only 17% of domestic investors are not interested in this type of investment.
Polish investors are among the most concentrated on AI globally. Interestingly, the Polish Language Council even declared AI as the “Word of the Year”. While 31% of investors in Poland own AI stocks in their portfolios, the global average is 27%. AI is more popular among investors in the Czech Republic (33%), and the USA (32%). It enjoys similar popularity in Germany, whilst the least interest is shown by individual investors in Australia (20%).
The youngest investors (18-34 years) show the most interest in this rapidly developing sector, with 40% of them currently exposed to AI-related stocks compared to 29% among people aged 35-44 years. People aged 45-54 years also appreciate the potential of AI, with 37% of them owning shares, but only 13% of investors over the age of 55.
Paweł Majtkowski, an analyst at eToro, commented: “AI stocks were the driving force behind the growth of the tech industry and the primary source of the bull market in the USA last year. The launch of ChatGPT and other similar services demonstrated the potential and prospects for the development of generative AI. As it turns out, this made a strong impression on Polish investors who actively added such stocks to their investment portfolios.”
AI trends contributed to NVIDIA and Meta becoming the top companies in the S&P 500 index last year with their share prices tripling. Although it’s unlikely for year 2024 to bring similarly spectacular results, the benefits derived from implementing AI technology will support economies and stock exchanges, especially as this technology quickly finds broad applications.
In the survey, Polish investors were also asked about which sectors and asset classes they most likely will increase their exposure to in the coming months. As many as 25% (15% globally) are most likely to increase their investments in cryptocurrencies, 12% (7% globally) in domestic bonds, and 11% (12% globally) in domestic stocks.
Among industries, Polish investors are planning to increase their engagement in real estate (17%) and technology (13%) the most. They also favor the energy sector (11%), financial services (10%), and healthcare (7%).
Paweł Majtkowski adds: “Global individual investors maintain a balanced portfolio consisting of large positions in the tech sector and crypto assets, alongside more conservative cash products. In this context, Polish investors have fewer cash products and invest more often in domestic bonds, especially those linked to inflation.”
Many investors maintain a high level of cash in their portfolio, which provides flexibility in a period of record-high interest rates. At the same time, it will allow increasing exposure to target assets when interest rates and uncertainty in the stock market decrease in 2024.
