SEBI study finds married traders outperform single traders in profit-making

The Indian market regulator's study suggests significant differences between the trading behaviours and outcomes of married and single traders, as well as between male and female traders, reports said.

According to SEBI's study on intraday trading in the equity cash segment, married traders consistently outperformed their single counterparts in several key areas during the financial years FY19, FY22, and FY23.

The study added that the proportion of loss-makers was lower among married traders compared to single traders.

"On comparing single vs married traders group, married traders group had a higher proportion of profit-makers than single traders group across all the three years," according to the study.

During FY23, 75 percent of single traders were loss-makers, while the number of married loss-making traders was 67 percent, the study revealed, adding that married traders executed a significantly higher number of trades on average than single traders, indicating a higher level of engagement and activity in the market.

The SEBI's study also revealed that female traders tend to have a higher proportion of profit-makers compared to their male counterparts across all the years analyzed.
The finding of the study highlights the trading skill of female investors.

"Proportion of profit-makers among the group of female traders was higher as compared to the group of male traders, across all the three years," according to the study.

As per the SEBI study, male traders with annual intraday turnover more than Rs 1 crore, during FY23, incurred an average loss of Rs 38,570 as compared to average loss of Rs 22,153, incurred by their female counterparts.

The proportion of female traders by intraday traders count interestingly declined to 16 percent in FY23 from 20 percent in FY19, the study added.

SEBI, in the study, revealed that lower the age group, higher the proportion of loss-makers as proportion of loss makers was lower among traders in the higher age group, according to reports.

As per SEBI, in FY23, traders under the age group of more than 60 years had the lowest loss-makers (53 percent), while those under 20 years of age had the highest proportion of loss-makers (81 percent).