A growing number of under-35s in the UK are skipping the stocks and shares ISA route and going straight to active trading. The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey backs this up: almost half of trading app users are aged 18 to 34, and the FCA's own research shows they tend to be lower-income and less financially resilient than users on traditional investment platforms. So what's pulling younger investors towards the short-term trade, and will it last?
The Numbers Behind the Generational Split
Around 1.6 million UK adults were using a trading app by mid-2024, with men five times more likely to use one than women. A J.P. Morgan survey of 1,000 UK retail investors found that 44% of Gen Z and 45% of millennials planned to increase how much they invest in 2026, compared to far lower figures among Gen X. Gen Z respondents were also the most bullish age group on market returns.
But there's a key distinction between investing more and investing differently. Older generations tend to favour long-term, diversified portfolios. Younger investors are more drawn to frequent trades, shorter holding periods and instruments like CFDs (contracts for difference, where you speculate on price movements without owning the asset) and forex pairs that allow them to act on market moves the same day.
What Draws Younger Traders to Short-Term Markets
Commission-free apps and low minimum deposits have stripped away the financial barriers that used to keep younger people out. You don't need thousands of pounds to open an account anymore.
Then there's the speed factor. Gen Z grew up with on-demand everything. A buy-and-hold strategy that delivers returns over five or ten years doesn't create the same pull as a trade that resolves within hours.
Social media plays a real role too. The FCA flagged that one CFD firm promoted by finfluencers caused around 90,000 retail investors to lose roughly £75 million over four years. The regulator has since blocked over 1,600 websites, removed more than 50 apps and targeted over 1,500 finfluencers promoting unregulated financial services. Trading content looks exciting and profitable online. The numbers tell a very different story.
What Active Trading Platforms Offer That ISA Providers Don't
Traditional stock ISA platforms are built for long-term investors. They'll give you a selection of funds, maybe some individual shares, and a clean interface for drip-feeding money monthly.
Day trading asks for something completely different. You'll need tight spreads, fast execution, advanced charting and access to instruments you can move in and out of within the same session. Unlike a stocks and shares ISA, active trading platforms will typically give you access to CFDs, forex pairs, commodities and indices, often with leverage that amplifies both gains and losses.
Many also integrate with software like TradingView or MetaTrader for deeper technical analysis. That’s easy to compare, as popular review sites like Trading Brokers compare UK platforms on exactly these features. When you're making multiple trades a day, a two-second delay or a wider-than-expected spread can turn a winning position into a losing one.
The Risk That Younger Traders Underestimate
Academic research consistently shows that less than 1% of day traders earn predictable positive returns over time. A study of 450,000 day traders on the Taiwan Stock Exchange found that the vast majority lost money, and the few who profited rarely sustained it year after year. In the UK, between 70% and 80% of retail CFD accounts are loss-making, and the FCA estimates its 2019 leverage caps prevent between £267 million and £451 million in consumer harm annually.
Younger traders are often less financially resilient, with smaller savings buffers to absorb losses. The FCA's own data shows that trading app users tend to be less financially stable than the broader investment platform population. That combination of higher risk tolerance and a thinner safety net is concerning.
Will the Trend Last or Fade With the Next Downturn
Bull markets make everyone look clever. The real test comes during prolonged downturns, when spreads widen and volatility punishes poorly timed trades. The post-2021 crypto crash did thin out many pandemic-era traders. Plus500's 2025 data tells the story: they brought in around 104,500 new customers, but their active client base actually fell from 254,000 to roughly 242,000. That's a lot of people coming in the door and just as many walking back out.
Still, the structural factors aren't going away. Low-cost apps will keep lowering the entry barrier, social media will keep glamorising fast returns, and the pull of quick results will always compete with the slow patience that long-term investing demands.
Fast Access, Slow Lessons
Buy-and-hold investing has decades of evidence behind it. Day trading can work, but only for a small minority who treat it as a skill learned over years, not a shortcut to income.
For young people drawn to active trading: start with a demo account, learn how spreads and leverage actually work, and never trade money you can't afford to lose. The tools have never been more accessible. The question is whether enough new traders will treat that access with the care it demands.
