Discover the key trends that shaped adviser trading in the last financial year, from increased market activity to growing demand for ETFs, fixed income and global equities.

Need to know

• Trading by financial advisers rose by close to a third in the year to June 30 as they negotiated the euphoria of record highs and lows of war for clients.
• Blue chip Australian shares accounted for the bulk of advisers’ trading volume in the 12-month period, with sell trades outnumbering buy trades.
• By contrast, advisers bought more exchange traded funds than they sold for clients. Fixed income vehicles, in particular, appear entrenched in the investment strategies of advisers.
• Strong momentum in global markets meant advised accounts increased their international holdings, including buying more direct shares.
• Advisers showed their worth to clients, with seven of the top 10 largest trading days occurring on days when the ASX rose.  This may indicate advised investors remained focused on their investment strategies during periods of market volatility.
• Advised self-managed superannuation funds were net buyers of listed securities, driven by their continued appetite for ETFs as the building blocks of portfolios. 

Trading by financial advisers increased by close to a third in the year to 30 June 2026 (29%) as they navigated volatile market conditions.

It was a 12-month period in which global sharemarkets reached early records, fueled by the ongoing artificial intelligence boom, early hopes of rate cuts and strong US corporate earnings. The Iran war and doubts that rate cuts would materialise then drove markets lower, before a rebound meant the US S&P500 ended FY26 20.9% higher. By comparison, the local S&P/ASX200 produced a 2.8% price return - largely because it lacks the AI-driven companies which dominate global indices.

An AUSIEX analysis of its trading volumes over the past 12 months shows increased adviser participation, with the number of advised clients who traded in this environment rose by 6.1%. This activity was spread across both non-SMSF investors and self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), with the former’s share of total trade volume jumping by almost four percentage points.

Christopher Hill, National Manager, Strategic Relationships at AUSIEX, says the trading patterns showed the extent to which advisers are now using listed markets to construct portfolios. 

“Trading activity on our platform indicates advisers no longer just buy ordinary shares. They drew on the full range of listed securities in FY26 to build portfolios which balance risk and return across the market cycle,” Hill says.

Baby Boomers remained the most likely to open new trading accounts, accounting for 45.3% of new advised clients on the AUSIEX platform vs 49.6% in the previous year. However, much of that decline was filled by Generation X as they reached an age at which they have either accumulated sufficient capital of their own to build portfolios, or potentially inherited assets from their parents as part of the intergenerational wealth transfer.

Table 1: New advised accounts (% share)

	Generation	FY2025	FY2026
	Baby Boomer	49.6%	45.3%
	Gen X	22.2%	26.9%
	Gen Z	2.5%	3.3%
	Interwar	15.1%	12.4%
	Millennial	10.6%	12.2%

 

Advisers remain active during market volatility

The biggest trading day on the AUSIEX platform in FY26 (18 June) occurred after the US and Iran signed an interim peace deal and global markets rallied in response.

In fact, seven of the top 10 largest trading days by advised investors occurred on days when the ASX rose. This was the complete opposite for retail investors, with seven of the top 10 largest trading days occurring when the ASX fell.

This may indicate that advised investors remained focused on their long-term investment strategies during periods of market volatility.“Periods of volatility are when advisers and clients need confidence that the systems they rely on will perform,” Hill says. 

“Reliability matters because it gives advisers the ability to act quickly and keep clients focused when markets are moving.”

The top five trading days for advised SMSF investors accounted for 13.9% of total trades for this cohort in FY26.

Blue chips dominate, but ETFs continue to gain ground

Direct Australian equities continued to account for the bulk of advisers’ trading volume in the 12-month period, with sells outnumbering buys.

Trading was concentrated in blue chip names, with more advisers selling than buying widely held stocks. This may reflect portfolio rebalancing, profit-taking or client withdrawal activity during the period.

CSL was the only company in the top 10 traded stocks to attract more buys than sells. This came despite the company’s share price falling by about 50% over the year as the market reacted to a run of disappointments, which may indicate some advisers viewed the share price weakness as a buying opportunity.

Table 2: Most traded stocks by advisers FY2026

Ticker	Company name	Buy-sell ratio	% FY26 trades
BHP	BHP Group	30%	1.74%
CSL	CSL	64%	1.70%
WDS	Woodside Energy Group	47%	1.51%
WOW	Woolworths Group	48%	1.32%
NAB	National Australia Bank	21%	1.31%
WES	Wesfarmers	39%	1.24%
CBA	Commonwealth Bank of Australia	33%	1.24%
WBC	Westpac Banking Corporation	30%	1.19%
MQG	Macquarie Group	39%	0.98%
TLS	Telstra Group	26%	0.88%

Table 3: Top holdings in advised accounts*

Ticker	Company name	% accts holding
BHP	BHP Group	28.56%
CBA	Commonwealth Bank of Australia	27.11%
WBC	Westpac Banking Corporation	24.42%
WDS	Woodside Energy Group	23.46%
WES	Wesfarmers	23.43%
NAB	National Australia Bank	23.36%
TLS	Telstra Group	22.31%
ANZ	ANZ Group Holdings	21.77%
CSL	CSL	17.49%
WOW	Woolworths Group	16.54%
* As at July 2026

By contrast, exchange traded funds (ETFs) attracted more buy trades than sells FY26. This may indicate advisers increasingly used ETFs when implementing portfolio exposures across a range of asset classes.

The most traded ETF categories by advisers were fixed income products, followed by products in the ‘Australian Equity – Strategy’ and global sector ETFs. 

In fact, fixed income ETFs accounted for more than a third (38%) of the net trade inflows to all ETFs for advised clients over the year, dwarfing all other categories.

Half of their top 10 individual traded ETFs for the year were fixed income products, stretching from conservative cash vehicles to products which invest in credit income securities products or bank subordinated debt.

“The dominance of fixed income ETFs in advisers’ trading decisions is striking. It shows the real degree to which ETFs are now front and centre in their minds when building allocations to each asset class,” Hill says.
Australian dollar denominated fixed income ETFs made up a vast majority of total fixed income trades by advisers over the two years, far outweighing global fixed income ETFs however the latter gained a small amount of trade share in FY26. 

Passive fixed income ETFs also remained more popular than active counterparts overall – but the latter increased their share of total fixed income ETP investment year on year.

Table 4: Local vs global split

Strategy	FY25 % trades	FY26 % trades
Australian dollar fixed income	85.6%	83.4%
Global fixed income	14.4%	16.6%

Table 5: most traded ETF strategies

Strategy	% total ETP net inflows
Fixed Income - Australian Dollar	38.0%
Equity - Australia Strategy	11.2%
Equity - Global Sectors	11.0%
Equity - Australia	6.4%
Equity - Global Strategy	6.3%
Equity - Australian Small/Mid Cap	5.0%
Fixed Income - Global	4.2%
Mixed Asset	3.4%
Equity - Emerging Markets	2.6%
Equity - Infrastructure	2.3%
Equity - Europe	2.2%
Commodity	1.9%

VanEck’s Australian Subordinated Debt ETF (SUBD) was the most traded individual ETF over the year, in a potential indication of yield-hungry investors’ appetite for assets to replace bank hybrid securities in their portfolios.

Industry stalwarts like iShares S&P500 ETF and Vanguard’s MSCI Index International Share ETF were the next most traded ETFs – and remained among the top ETF holdings of advised clients at year end. 

Meanwhile, ETFs focused on defence and global healthcare accounted for more than half of advised net flows into thematic ETFs as investors sought to capitalise on rising military spending and, in terms of healthcare, build defensive positions in an uncertain environment. US policy uncertainty around drug pricing was also resolved late last year, buoying investor sentiment toward the sector.

Table 6: Most traded individual ETFs

Strategy	Company name	FY26 % trade value
SUBD	VanEck Australian Subordinated Debt ETF	3.85%
IVV	iShares S&P 500 ETF	2.73%
VGS	Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF	2.66%
AAA	Betashares Australian High Interest Cash ETF	2.53%
VAS	Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF	2.20%
VGAD	Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares (Hedged) ETF	2.00%
VHY	Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF	2.00%
HBRD	Betashares Australian Credit Income Active ETF	2.00%
BBUS	Betashares US Equities Strong Bear Currency Hedged Complex ETF	1.99%
FIXD	Coolabah Active Composite Bond Fund ETF	1.78%

Table 7: Top fixed income ETFs by FY26 trade volume

Ticker	Security name	Type	% FY2026 volume
HBRD	Betashares Australian Credit Income Active ETF	Active ETF	9.6%
SUBD	VanEck Australian Subordinated Debt ETF	Passive ETF	9.1%
VACF	Vanguard Australian Corporate Fixed Interest Index ETF	Passive ETF	7.5%
VAF	Vanguard Australian Fixed Interest Index ETF	Passive ETF	5.6%
FIXD	Coolabah Active Composite Bond Complex ETF	Active ETF	5.3%
FLOT	VanEck Australian Floating Rate ETF	Passive ETF	5.2%
CRED	Betashares Australian Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	Passive ETF	5.2%
TACT	Janus Henderson Tactical Income Active ETF	Active ETF	4.1%
QPON	Betashares Australian Bank Senior Floating Rate Bond ETF	Passive ETF	3.5%
VIF	Vanguard International Fixed Interest Index (Hedged) ETF	Passive ETF	3.2%

 

Advisers go global to tap tech gains

Trading in direct international equites jumped in 2026 as strong momentum in global markets encouraged advisers to diversify portfolios outside Australia.

US and UK shares were by far the most popular among advised investors, accounting for the vast majority of traded value. Unsurprisingly, technology securities were the most heavily traded with quantum companies – Rigetti Computing (RGTI.XNAS) and IonQ (IONQ.XNYS) – attracting more volume than popular AI stocks.

Trading in leveraged equity ETFs – including GraniteShares’ range of single stock ETFs – was indicative of the appetite from Australians for assets which add an extra element to diversified portfolios but are not available locally.

“Technology was the number one story in FY26. But gains from global equities increasingly extend to other sectors too. That means advisers may consider adding a broader range of companies to portfolios in the year ahead,” Hill says.

Table 8: Top global buys by advisers

Ticker	Security name	Theme	% FY2026 buy trades
RGTI.XNAS	Rigetti Computing	Quantum computing	4.6%
TSLA.XNAS	Tesla	Electric vehicles/AI	3.6%
IONQ.XNYS	IonQ	Quantum computing	3.4%
BABA.XNYS	Alibaba Group	China platform/e-commerce	3.4%
MSFT.XNAS	Microsoft	Cloud/AI software	3.4%
NVDA.XNAS	NVIDIA	AI semiconductors	3.4%
META.XNAS	Meta Platforms	AI/digital advertising	2.3%
AMDL.XNAS	GraniteShares 2x Long AMD Daily ETF	Semiconductor tactical exposure	2.2%
QBTS.XNYS	D-Wave Quantum	Quantum computing	2.1%
BABX.XNAS	GraniteShares 2x Long BABA Daily ETF	China platform tactical exposure	2.0%

 

SMSFs dominated by blue chip, passive ETFs

Advised SMSF trading volumes rose approximately 20% in FY26 and they remained net buyers of listed securities, though the latter dynamic was driven by the continued uptake of ETFs by this cohort. 

Despite the continued uptake of ETFs, direct equities remain the largest component of advised SMSF portfolios (47.9%) and among their most traded assets. 

“The dominance of blue chip holdings in advised SMSF portfolios was even more marked than in advised non-super accounts, indicating the degree to which their trading may be more related to long-term asset allocation rather than opportunistic positions,” Hill says.

The top traded ETFs by advised SMSFs were skewed towards equities, both domestic and international. Their preferred vehicles appear to be traditional index tracking funds from industry giants such as Vanguard.

Table 9: Advised SMSF portfolio snapshot

Asset type	SMSF % holdings
Equities	47.9%
ETF	36.9%
ETMF	5.3%
Hybrid	5.0%
LIC/LIT/AREIT	4.7%
Other	0.3%

 

Table 10: Advised SMSF top traded securities in 2026

Ticker	Security name	% trades	Buy/sell ratio
BHP	BHP Group	13.4%	31%
CSL	CSL	13.0%	65%
WDS	Woodside Energy Group	11.4%	47%
NAB	National Australia Bank	10.6%	24%
WOW	Woolworths Group	10.5%	51%
WBC	Westpac Banking Corporation	9.6%	32%
WES	Wesfarmers	9.4%	42%
MQG	Macquarie Group	7.8%	40%
CBA	Commonwealth Bank of Australia	7.6%	38%
RMD	ResMed Inc	6.7%	53%

 

Table 11: Advised SMSF top traded ETFs

Ticker	Security name	% traded value
VGS	Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF	3.07%
IVV	iShares S&P 500 ETF	2.76%
SUBD	VanEck Australian Subordinated Debt ETF	2.74%
VAS	Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF	2.33%
VGAD	Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares Hedged ETF	2.25%
VHY	Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF	2.12%
VAP	Vanguard Australian Property Securities Index ETF	1.89%
IOO	iShares Global 100 ETF	1.87%
MVW	VanEck Australian Equal Weight ETF	1.84%

 

Where to in 2027?

Adviser trading activity remained elevated throughout FY26 as investors navigated a year marked by record highs, sharp falls and heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Their trading patterns indicate that periods of market volatility were often accompanied by increased portfolio trading activity, including portfolio rebalancing and allocation changes. Heading into FY27, continued geopolitical uncertainty, renewed inflation risks and the ongoing search for income are likely to keep portfolio construction front of mind. Australia’s listed markets continue to provide access to a broad range of investment types, including direct equities, ETFs, and fixed income securities, providing exposure to international markets and flexibility in portfolio construction. SMSFs dominated by blue chips, passive ETFs and fixed income securities, providing exposure to international markets and flexibility in portfolio construction.

Source: AUSIEX Data July 2026

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