The top 10 ETFs and shares investors under 30 are buying

One of the perks of being young is usually the ability to tolerate risk – both in a portfolio and in terms of riskier life behaviour. It can also translate to a more dangerous approach to investing.

Think memestocks or other momentum trades with little to back them in the way of fundamentals. High dopamine hit in the moment, potential big loss down the track.

But, with more education and better access to investing than ever, are people aged under 30 actually making risky trades or should we be complimenting their portfolios?

The data from Stake Invest actually suggests sensible decision-making at the core using ETFs– and a heavy interest in the AI theme, which is shared by older generations. There’s still some concerns in the approach and lessons for all, regardless of age.

Consistent core investing

Samy Sriram, Market Analyst at Stake, notes that younger investors are largely similar to other cohorts in how they build their core exposures, with ETFs heavily used, regardless of access point (ASX or Wall St).

“Index investing habits have been stable and nearly identical across ages. VOO, SPY and QQQ (Wall St) and IVV, VAS, VGS, NDQ (ASX) have been the dominant ETF picks in every year for every cohort,” Sriram says.

Top 10 most purchased ETFs by under-30s

The general trend in the top 10 has been broad exposure to the Australian and US stock markets and an interest in gold. While gold prices fell in the start of 2026 and it is down 6.03% on the year in Australian dollar terms as at 13 October, it has offered strong returns on a longer term basis and there is plenty of demand in terms of central bank and investor buying to suggest strength in the longer term.

Beyond the top 10, ETF selection remains equity focused, with thematics appearing in the mix and high-growth options also popular. While bitcoin and silver make an appearance, other asset classes, like fixed income or property, don’t fall in the top purchases and this is something to watch when it comes to ensuring overall diversification.

The question might be whether younger Australian investors follow broad global trends in coming years. For example, Calastone Fund Flow data showed ongoing outflows from equity funds and movement into bond funds – following rising interest rates and better yield available than in the past.

A conviction in AI

“Looking at buying activity on Stake over the past few years, under-30 investors have gone through a clear evolution. GameStop-style momentum trading has mostly disappeared from this group’s trading activity. In its place is more sustained thematic conviction, particularly in the companies building for the age of AI,” says Sriram.

Unsurprisingly, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the most dominant play, regardless of age for US purchases in Stake’s cohort. You can imagine this would be a similar story for other trading platforms – it certainly transcends age group and it is a brave investor who steers away from Nvidia.

Sriram notes that Nvidia has consistently topped the charts for a number of years now.

Outside of this, Sriram has seen a shift in investing themes in the last year.

“This year’s new top-10 entrants for under-30 investors are SpaceX (SPCX), which is now the second most-bought stock by buyer count, Micron ($MU) on the back of the AI memory trade, and Take-Two (TTWO), ahead of the GTA 6 launch,” she says.

She highlights that there’s only two stocks in the top 20 for under-30 year olds that aren’t in the lists for older cohorts: Take-two Interactive (NYSE: TTWO), and SoFi Technologies (NYSE: SOFI). The ASX side looks very similar regardless of age, heavily favouring some of Australia’s biggest companies like BHP (ASX: BHP) and Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA), with the exception of small cap Droneshield (ASX: DRO).

“Droneshield is the standout under-30 buy on the ASX. DRO buyer counts among under-30 clients roughly doubled from 2024 to 2026 YTD, and its consistently the single most-brought ASX small cap in this cohort,” Sriram says.

Top 10 most purchased stocks by under-30s

Should investors be buying these?

Focusing in firstly on the US stocks, you’ll note that the Magnificent Seven dominates. This in itself is not necessarily the concern – though it does create a significant AI exposure. The concern lies in when you place these holdings alongside the core portfolio ETF holdings that this demographic has focused on.

More than half of the Nasdaq 100 is allocated in the Magnificent Seven, while over 30% of the S&P 500 sits in the same seven companies. Bear in mind that the S&P500 and Nasdaq 100 form the most popular exposures in the most popular ETFs, be it from US or on the Australian market. Once you add in individual stock purchases, the overall portfolio exposure to those companies and the same AI theme can blow out and mean inadequate diversification.

SpaceX was a mega-IPO this year and launched onto indices as one of top 20 largest companies on the Nasdaq 100 – while the exposure may not look at large as the Magnificent Seven, it’s still worth factoring the double-up in exposure.

Turning to the Australian stocks, the largest Australian stocks on the market are amongst the most popular purchases – but Commonwealth Bank, CSL and BHP also form around a quarter of the S&P/ASX 300 and a similar portion of the S&P/ASX 200 so investors are facing into a similar concentration risk.

Droneshield – highlighted by Sriram earlier – is an interesting addition to a list otherwise dominated by large-cap stocks. Droneshield was recently rated 3 stars by Morningstar, which commented on the stock’s high uncertainty and lack of economic moat. Morningstar analysts the balance sheet positively though and noted downward price pressures.

The stock was featured in an episode of Buy Hold Sell in June this year, with Marcus Today’s Henry Jennings viewing it as a Buy due to its European contracts and solid technology, while Medallion Financial’s Michael Wayne described it as a Sell because it will need to do extremely well and deliver on large-scale contracts to justify the price.

The missing link

There’s a clear technology tilt in the way that under-30s are investing which is shared by older counterparts at Stake. This is not necessarily a concern unless viewed within the context of the portfolio as a whole.

Investors have favoured broad-based US and Australian equity indices which could leave them overconcentrated in the Magnificent Seven (for the global exposure) and to banks and miners for the Australian exposure and lacking other sectors or opportunities. Investors also shouldn't forget other regions, like Europe or Asia when they investigate options for their portfolios.

Traditionally, equities are popular investments so it is expected that these have dominated the most popular choices, but investors should be careful to factor diversification to other asset classes too, like Australian fixed interest.

As a whole though, the data suggests that younger investors are not actually making risky trades, but rather taking a consistent stable approach with the core of the portfolio and their individual stock selection is in line with older, often more conservative, investors. Here’s to breaking the stereotypes and financially educated younger investors!