Retail broker trading activity q2 2026 fell at 45 of 51 firms tracked by FM Intelligence, while the median monthly volume per active account dropped 9.7% from the first quarter to $3.06 million.
FM Intelligence said account growth and trading activity split during the quarter. As a result, a bigger client base did not always lead to more client flow. The data covered 51 named brokers that appeared in both quarters. It excluded the aggregated other-brokers row.
Aggregate monthly volume on the matched account series fell 7.3% to $30.5 trillion. Meanwhile, the weighted industry ratio, which divides total volume by total active accounts, slipped 7.0% to $4.12 million. FM Intelligence also said active accounts stayed near 7.39 million, down 0.4% on an excluding-Japan basis.
Retail Broker Trading Activity Q2 2026 Trends
Only six of the 51 brokers posted a rise in monthly volume per active account between the two quarters. However, in four of those cases, the ratio increased while estimated account counts fell. Only two brokers increased both active accounts and monthly volume.
The rest either added accounts and lost volume, kept account estimates flat, or declined on both measures. In addition, 17 brokers reported unchanged account estimates for the quarter. FM Intelligence said that limits how closely readers should interpret tight ranking gaps.
The equivalent first-quarter study showed a median of $3.40 million across 52 brokers. That earlier ranking also showed a 17-fold gap between the highest and lowest readings.
Axi Leads Per-Account Ranking
Axi posted the highest monthly volume per active account among the 51 brokers at $10.70 million. That figure rose 13.5% from the first quarter. However, its monthly volume fell 12.4%, while its estimated account base dropped 22.8%.
FM Intelligence said that pattern appeared across much of the ranking. A per-account ratio can rise because volume increases, because account numbers fall, or because both happen together. Therefore, the direction of the ratio alone does not show whether trading economics improved.
XTB sat at the low end of the range, but FM Intelligence said its figure was not directly comparable with the rest. Its estimated 851,000 active accounts include investment accounts as well as CFD accounts after the firm moved to combined client reporting from the first quarter.
FM Intelligence added that per-account figures reflect ratios of aggregate data, not observed trading by a single client.
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Source: Finance Magnates
