Robinhood's Quirk touts retail investor strength, says overnight trading the future

By Ateev Bhandari and Anirban Sen

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - Robinhood HOOD.O executive Steve Quirk on Thursday credited retail investors with helping the market rebound after a sharp plunge in April, adding that young self-directed traders were increasingly making trades outside traditional hours.

His comments come after the market turmoil that followed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs on April 2.

"This is the second occurrence where I would argue retail came to the rescue of the market. COVID (was) probably the first," said Quirk, Robinhood's chief brokerage officer, at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange & Trading Conference in New York.

Retail investors have evolved into a notable market force since the GameStop short-squeeze of 2021, buying $4.7 billion in stocks on April 3, the highest level over the past decade, according to JPMorgan estimates.

This was a day after Trump launched his erratic tit-for-tat tariff campaign, which roiled markets worldwide, scuttled dealmaking, and dampened consumer sentiment.

Another way retail investors are changing the markets is through overnight trading, which is growing in popularity as global demand for U.S. stocks surges.

Robinhood's users, especially those in their 30s, "do the research and homework in the evening," and expect to be able to make trades whenever they wish, Quirk said on Thursday.

Trading volume outside traditional hours has also spiked sharply as a tumultuous period of U.S. policy in recent months has kept markets on edge. There have often been steep selloffs in after-hours trading if Trump announced material pivots on trade policy late in the day.

Robinhood estimates up to a quarter of its total daily trading volume on its busiest days comes from outside traditional market hours. May was the biggest month at the company for overnight trading, by volume, according to Quirk.

"You will look back in a couple years and laugh at the notion that we waited until 9:30 Eastern for trading to start," said Quirk.

Robinhood and competitor Interactive Brokers IBKR.O have offered overnight trading for limited equities over the past few years.

"May was the biggest month we've ever had (on overnight trading volumes). All the news is happening when the market's closed. So, if I wait till the next morning to react, I'm behind the eight ball - we already have asset classes that trade around the clock," said Quirk.

Robinhood is also preparing to double down on the business of wealth management, at a time when financial advisers are locked in a race to arm wealthy clients with better data in volatile markets.

"There's a $124 trillion transfer of wealth happening right now. People are living longer today, which is a good thing...So we have the recipients of that wealth sitting at profit, 26 million customers that are in the accumulation phase of wealth," said Quirk.

"They're actually starting to get in their prime earnings, and they're going to be recipients of much of this. Advisers want access to establish a relationship with them. That's what we're building, a referral program that connects those two," he added.