At the FM Singapore Summit 2026 in Singapore, an intriguing interview focused maintained that modern traders are becoming more self-directed, more diversified and less willing to tolerate fragmented trading experiences, forcing brokers to compete on usability as much as pricing.
The discussion at the Craft Stage featured Edmund Lee, Growth Manager for Singapore at TradingView, and Kenny Wan, Head of Sales at Penguin Securities, according to event and company information.
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Retail trading in Asia is becoming broader, faster and more deliberate, with investors increasingly moving across asset classes and demanding smoother trading journeys from analysis to execution, speakers said at the FM Singapore Summit 2026 in Singapore.
During a Craft Stage panel titled “Key Trends Shaping Modern Trading Behavior,” Edmund Lee of TradingView and Kenny Wan of Penguin Securities argued that the retail investor of 2026 looks very different from the one brokers served a decade ago. Rather than chasing a single market, today’s users are arriving with more information, stronger views and a clearer sense of how they want to allocate risk, they said.
Lee opened with platform data showing steady growth in trading interest across regions, citing global user growth of about 10%, ASEAN growth of 15% and Singapore growth of 19%.
Momentum in Southeast Asia
He said the figures point to particularly strong momentum in Southeast Asia, where trading participation is rising alongside user expectations for speed, personalization, community features and seamless access across devices and services.
Wan said that picture matched what Penguin Securities is seeing among clients in the region. “These clients are actually quite well-versed and they know what they want to invest in,” he said, adding that many now do their own research before committing capital to equities, bonds, crypto, gold and other instruments.
A central theme of the session was the rise of the multi-asset trader. Lee said platforms are evolving into multi-asset ecosystems as global players bring together CFDs, equities, crypto and futures, while Wan said diversification has become a defining behavior rather than a secondary consideration.
Rise of the Multi-Asset Trader
“I think the story really is about diversification and not just focus on one asset class,” Wan said. He contrasted that with the more concentrated habits of earlier retail cohorts, arguing that younger and more market-aware investors now respond to macro events, rate decisions and geopolitical tension by shifting across products rather than staying anchored to equities alone.
Commodities emerged as one of the clearest examples of that shift. Lee cited data showing Singapore posting 55% growth in commodities trading, while Wan said clients were using instruments such as gold and oil both as defensive hedges and as speculative trades.
Wan offered one of the panel’s more memorable anecdotes when he described people in Singapore queueing at banks and bullion dealers to buy gold, a sign, he suggested, that commodities have moved further into the retail mainstream. “People are actually buying gold for speculative purposes,” he said, arguing that the asset class remains relevant whenever geopolitical stress pushes investors to rethink risk.
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The panel also highlighted how trading preferences are widening beyond traditional equities. Lee said gold and Bitcoin ranked consistently among top-traded symbols across regions, while Singapore showed a more mixed profile that also included names such as Nvidia, suggesting traders are blending macro, thematic and speculative exposures in the same portfolio.
Consensus on User Experience
If there was one point of strongest agreement, it was on user experience. Lee pointed to growth in broker connectivity, including a 49% increase globally and 31% in ASEAN, as evidence that traders want to move directly from charting and research to execution without leaving the platform.
Wan said that demand is changing the basis of competition in brokerage. “Right now people talk about user experience about the connectivity itself more so than spread and pricing,” he said, arguing that investors increasingly value the ability to monitor multiple asset classes in one portfolio view instead of switching between several platforms.
The discussion suggested that brokers and fintech firms in Asia are facing a more complex customer than before: one that is informed, diversified and impatient with friction. For firms hoping to stay relevant, the message from the panel was that access alone is no longer enough; platforms must also deliver context, convenience and a unified trading experience.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.FM-EventsRead More
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