The Covid-19 pandemic was a world-altering event, a forced pause on normal life that created an unexpected vacuum of time. The lock down and the subsequent mobility restrictions became an unprecedented opportunity to explore new interests. With commutes eliminated and social calendars cleared, individuals turned to acquiring and nurturing hobbies like baking, home workouts and notably, the complex orld of personal finance.

Driven by a mix of curiosity, the promise of easy gains in a volatile market, and a genuine desire to be productive, a new wave of retail investors and traders emerged. They were catered to by a perfect storm of enabling factors: zero-commission trading apps, a spurt of online forums, webinars, and a constant stream of financial content on social media. For a brief and intense period, diving into stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies wasn’t just an investment strategy; it was a popular pastime.

However, as the world gradually reopened, the very conditions that fostered this boom began to vanish.

The additional time shrunk, daily routines reasserted themselves and the dedicated hours once spent analysing charts and earnings reports were reclaimed by commutes, meetings, and social obligations. What was left behind is a growing, and often unspoken, challenge: a cohort of investors struggling to manage the substantial portfolios they built when time was plentiful.

Also, during the lockdown period, the environment for learning was uniquely conducive. The most significant factor was the sudden abundance of uninterrupted time. Researching a company, understanding technical analysis or following -market moves was done without the pressure of a pressing schedule.

The digital ecosystem exploded over platforms like Reditt, discord, youtube (finfluencers) and FinTwit (financial twitter). They provided not just information, but a sense of community (paving way for gamestock like episodes), turning investing from a solitary activity to a social and an almost gamified experience. With regulations adapting to the digital format (KYC, a/c opening, etc) trading apps made the process of frictionless engagement. With intuitive interfaces and features like fractional ownership, the barriers are suddenly erased, making it attractive and inviting to a new generation of investors. These combinations became a perfect storm for DIY (Do It Yourself) finance, empowering individuals to build surprising large and complex portfolios.

(The author is a partner with “Wealocity Analytics”, a SEBI registered Research Analyst firm and could be reached at [email protected])