We are at the start of a 5 year small cap boom.

As we've been reporting on the last few months, the market has turned. 

We can't deny that anymore. 

It's an observation that hammers home even further for me, after visiting the RIU conference in Melbourne and experiencing the company buzz and investor activity.

Are you seeing the same thing?

You've probably noticed the ETF and passive-fuelled ASX 200 has been growing steadily for years, recently hitting new highs. 

But for everyone outside of Australia's master index, it's been a hard few years.

That started to change soon after 30 June, and we started calling it on the 16th of July with signs that volumes were up and retail was buying back.

And that was backed up when we visited the Noosa conference in Perth, Bioshares in Tassie, and now RIU in Melbourne. All these events have a big mix of retail, HNWs, and instos, and the observations are consistent.

Instos are staying in (that's their job). 

 But retail and HNW investors are coming back and that's really important. For anyone outside the ASX 200, retail and HNW investors are the majority of your volume, and own your share price.

#1 with 50% of volume traded.
The mid-register, your HNWs, and family office crew.

#2 with 30% of volume traded.
The long tail of retail, and your mum and dads.

#3 with 20% of volume traded. 

Your top 20 holders, instos, and insiders. 

It's HNW and retail investors that are driving the volume, which drives the price and it's them we need to watch when they come out to play. 

And it's what we saw at RIU this week - companies were excited, investors were leaning in, and the venue was packed and buzzing.

"We are at the start of a 5 year small-cap boom" was the quote of the day from a 30 year industry veteran.

Fingers crossed!

Ben.