The last 18 months have seen the rise of retail investor participation globally, in diverse markets and under diverse conditions. From January 2015 to September 2020, on average, the number of retail trades increased by 358%, the value of retail trading increased by 317% & the number of retail accounts increased by 272%, WFE Research analysis shows. As the industry strives for inclusive growth, bringing retail onto the neutral, regulated, transparent markets that exchanges run, what are the challenges and the opportunities? How can we balance innovation and financial inclusion with investor protection? What does the meme stock phenomena and the gamification of investments tell us? How should exchanges be thinking about designing markets for crypto assets?
Dr. Reena Agarwal -- Robert E. McDonough Professor of Finance & Director, Center for Financial Markets and Policy, Georgetown University
Joe Gawronski-- President, Rosenblatt Securities
Paul Jiganti – Managing Director, Business Development, IMC financial markets