Aussie investors eye Wall Street stocks Apple, Facebook Inc

Australians are investing offshore at an unprecedented pace, with appetites increasingly whetting for US stocks especially technology giants Facebook, Amazon and Apple, NAB figures show.

And it seems the flirtation with international stocks is paying off – Aussie Gen X investors saw their international turnover soar a staggering 91 per cent, backing what they consider ‘safe stocks’ like Apple, Tesla, and Alphabet (Google) in the last year to 31 January, according to nabtrade.

Gen Y heads are also turning offshore, but are taking a punt on slightly less known tech and gaming firms including smartphone chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Nvidia and US game developer Activision Blizzard. That age group’s international turnover, which denotes the amount of money changing hands when buying and selling international stocks – surged over 70 per cent.

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Nevertheless, well-known brands Facebook, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon featured in the top 10 most popular international stocks for both young and older investors.

While there is still a “strong home bias” to investing in Australian firms, there is far more appetite for offshore investing than ever before, Gemma Dale, nabtrade Director of SMSF and Investor Behaviour told Yahoo7 Finance. “Its likely offshore investing will increase in the future,” she predicted.

There are a few reasons for this spike – the plethora of online trading platforms now available and the affordability – with trading costs starting at just $14.95. “Younger Australians are also starting to invest much younger than their grandparents did.”

Generally, younger generations have longer investment timeframes, which allows them to pursue high growth assets, while Baby Boomers are opting for traditional blue chips names which offer reliable yields, the nabtrade research suggests.

Locally, health and food stocks including A2 Milk and baby food firm Bellamys, proved popular among younger generations, while big four banks, Telstra and the miners appealed across the board.

Baby Boomers remained the biggest investors, with 30 per cent more trades than Gen X, and twice as many as Gen Y.