Financier №2 (42) 2026

What would have been the better investment in 2000: buying an ETF tracking the S&P 500 index or purchasing LEGO 3341 set with mini‑figures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Boba Fett? Over 26 years, the first grew at an average of 7.7% per year, while the LEGO set — which cost less than $4 at launch — appreciated by 5,000%. That is, the toy’s average annual return exceeded 10%.

This is one of many examples of how a new generation of market participants has broadened the idea of investing. For young people, it’s not just about dividends, multiples and financial statements — culture, identity, community and emotional engagement matter too. Instead of shares in a generic General Electric (GE), many now opt for exclusive watches, limited‑edition sneakers, toys and other unexpected assets their fathers — let alone grandfathers — would never have considered.

This doesn’t mean young people have lost interest in the stock market. Rather, the psychology of capital has changed. Money increasingly flows to places where there’s a story, an emotion, scarcity and digital liquidity all at once.

The New World

This shift in how investing is perceived is already visible in statistics. According to a 2024 survey by Bank of America and research company Escalent, 72% of investors aged 21 to 43 believe that stocks and bonds alone can no longer deliver above‑average returns. In portfolios of this age group, equities account for only 28%, compared to 55% among older generations, while alternative and crypto assets make up about 31%.

There are several reasons for this shift. First, the market has become more technologically accessible. Where connections, capital, and infrastructure were previously required, a smartphone, a platform account, and a basic budget are now sufficient. Second, the consumer experience itself has changed. Asset purchases are now increasingly combined with entertainment. Collecting, reselling, and digital shopping are integrated into the content of social media and other online communities.

Finally, many young investors perceive the traditional stock market as something far removed from their reality. For them, stocks are abstract ticker symbols, while a pair of rare sneakers, a Pokémon card, an art object, or a virtual item are more relatable and visually closer to everyday life. In a world of high inflation, political turbulence, and constant information noise, anything with cultural value and limited supply is beginning to be perceived as a potential means of preserving capital.

A Share in a Sneaker

The most straightforward segment in this new economy is collectibles: sports cards, comics, figurines, rare coins, vinyl records, gaming items and more. Experts from one of the world’s leading audit firms, Deloitte, counted 7.6 million collectors in Australia alone in 2025 (35 % of the country’s adult population), with a total value of their collections reaching 16.8 billion Australian dollars (~$11.6 billion). Of course, one market doesn’t reflect the whole picture, but this example confirms a global trend: collecting has stopped being a niche hobby and is becoming a mass consumer‑investment category.

The most profitable comic in history is Action Comics (1938), which introduced the superhero Batman. It sold for 10 cents in stores, but in 2024 a copy fetched $6 million at auction

Sneakers are perhaps the clearest symbol of the new financial paradigm. They sit at the intersection of fashion, sports, status and market mechanics. A limited release, a collaboration with a famous brand or celebrity, and supply scarcity can push a pair’s price many times above retail.

Platforms like StockX have made this market resemble a trading terminal, with trade histories, transparent prices, charts and near‑exchange supply‑and‑demand logic. As early as 2020, Rally — another such service — offered investors the chance to buy not the entire collectible but shares in exclusive sneakers, cards and other items, treating each asset almost like a “mini‑company” with an initial “share” offering and subsequent secondary market trading.

Business Insider then cited the example of a rare model — the Nike Moon Shoe. Rally split the asset into 18 thousand shares priced at $10 each. More than 600 investors bought them within hours. This became a vivid example of how collecting has begun to converge with stock market logic. Today, the platform also lets you invest in Jordan III sneakers of 1988 signed by Michael Jordan. The “entry ticket” costs $11.

A Piece of Picasso

Until recently, art investment was largely the domain of the elite, but digital platforms are changing the rules here too. The largest player in fractional art ownership, Masterworks, manages nearly $1 billion in tokenized shares of contemporary artists’ works and has hundreds of thousands of users. According to its estimates, the market for fractional art ownership grew from near zero in the late 2010s to $1.8–1.9 billion by 2024 and could approach $9–10 billion by 2030.

The mechanics are simple: the platform buys a work by a legendary master — say, Basquiat or Picasso — divides it into thousands of shares and sells them to investors, who can hold them for years until the artwork is sold or trade among themselves on the secondary market. Technologically, this is increasingly implemented via tokenization and blockchain, which simplifies record‑keeping, lowers the entry barrier and allows investing from anywhere in the world.

In 2022, a card of New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle, issued in his debut season in the American League in 1952, sold at auction for a record $12.6 million

Not All That Glitters Is NFT

However, investing in exotic assets doesn’t always guarantee profit. According to CoinGecko, by 2024, prices for metaverse land — tokenized plots of real estate in various metaverses — had fallen on average 72% from their highs, with declines of 89–95% in some projects.

Low liquidity and high volatility are key downsides of new asset classes. Quickly selling a share in a painting or a rare item at a fair price is often literally impossible. Establishing their fair value can be difficult due to lack of market data, and prices are often opaque and subjective. Reckless following of trends can turn an investment portfolio of such instruments into a collection of expensive but illiquid souvenirs.

Add to this regulatory uncertainty. Blockchain platforms and NFTs are still in a grey zone for authorities, and the tax implications of such investments can unpleasantly surprise their owner.

Linking to Reality

For a private investor, the simplest and clearest way to enter the experience economy is to choose one of the specialized exchange‑traded funds (ETFs). For instance, the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (METV) lets you bet on the ecosystem of digital worlds, virtual consumption and immersive technologies*. The fund is trading on NYSE Arca, with an annual fee of 0.59%. Its largest holdings include Roblox (RBLX), Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL), Unity (U), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META) and Tencent — companies linked to virtual platforms, digital infrastructure and new user experience technologies.

*Technologies that create a full immersion effect in a digital environment

A more “prestigious” option is the Amundi Global Luxury UCITS ETF (GLUX). It holds shares from the S&P Global Luxury Index, comprising global luxury brands. The annual fee is 0.25%.

From February 2014 to May 2026, the price of one GLUX unit rose by 236%. The metaverse investment fund METV showed more modest growth — about 20%, though data is only available from July 2021.

The entry threshold for a private investor is effectively the price per unit of each fund ($20 and $200, respectively). Add the brokerage fee — and you get a much more convenient way to invest than buying an alternative asset outright.

Goal and Means

The experience economy has taught the market to turn emotions into a product. But it’s important to understand what role such assets play in your financial strategy. If they bring pleasure and open up new opportunities, that’s certainly a plus. However, the downside of such investments isn’t always visible.

An investment decision should be built on risk analysis and time horizon assessment. The liquidity of an asset is equally important: it may take weeks to sell a rare sports card at a fair price, while making changes to a portfolio of stocks or funds takes just a few seconds. Therefore, taking all factors into account, the investment market for collectibles is hundreds of times smaller than the stock market.

Of course, a rare LEGO Han Solo figure — if you’re lucky enough to find one — can turn out to be a valuable item. However, the opportunity to invest in an index fund and achieve comparable returns is accessible to everyone.