Tying the knot pays off: Married traders make more money than bachelors

Is marriage a good idea? Well, that’s up for debate. And does being a man guarantee more success than being a woman? Ha! And surely, being younger beats being older, right? Rofl! Well, guess what? When it comes to intraday trading success, all these clichés get flipped upside down! The latest study from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) shows that things aren't as straightforward as they seem.

Want to trade? Get married first!

According to the study, married traders not only experience a lower proportion of losses but also generate a higher proportion of profits.

Besides, married traders engage in more trades compared to their single counterparts. In FY23, 75 percent of single traders were loss-makers, while the number of married loss-making traders was lower at 67 percent. In terms of profit, married traders were ahead. In FY23, the proportion of married profit-makers was 33 percent, while single profit-makers stood at 27 percent.

Also, the average number of trades executed by married men was significantly higher at 86, compared to single men at 43. However, the number of married traders and single traders in FY23 was almost equal, at 28 lakhs and 27.4 lakhs, respectively.

Young blood bleeds more

There has been a sharp rise in participation by young traders in the intraday segment over the years. The proportion of individual traders under 30 years of age increased from 18 percent in FY19 to 48 percent in FY23. Participation by traders under 20 also increased from 0.2 percent in FY19 to 3.4 percent in FY23.

But in the world of trading, being young is no advantage; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Individuals in the lower age group had a higher percentage of loss-makers compared to those in higher age groups.

Among individuals under 30 years old, 81 percent were loss-makers, while among those over 60, only 53 percent incurred losses in FY23. Meanwhile, 76 percent of traders in the 20-30 age group were loss-makers in FY23. Seems like youth might not be wasted on the young, but their money certainly is!

Women make more profits

Female traders had a lower proportion of loss-makers than male traders since FY19, according to the study.

The proportion of female loss-making traders was 66 percent in FY23, while for male loss-making traders, this number was higher at 72 percent.

Similarly, the proportion of women profit-traders was higher at 33 percent in FY23, compared to male profit traders at 28 percent.

However, the share of female traders declined to 16 percent in FY23 from 20 percent in FY19. Clearly, women aren’t just breaking the glass ceiling; they’re also cracking the trading code!

Participation beyond cities

The participation of individual traders from Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 cities has increased to 3x, 5x, and 10x in FY23 compared to FY19, the study revealed.

Interestingly, the proportion of loss-makers was lower in Tier 1 cities compared to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. In FY23, the proportion of loss-makers in Tier 1 cities was 66 percent, while it was 68 percent and 70 percent in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, respectively. It seems like city dwellers have a bit of an edge—or maybe just better Wi-Fi!

Other key findings of the study include:

• Around one in three individuals who trade in the equity cash segment trades intraday.
• The proportion of loss-makers increased to 80 percent for traders with very frequent (more than 500 trades in a year) trading activity. Maybe less is more?
• Seven out of ten individual intraday traders in the equity cash segment incurred net losses in FY23. Ouch!