Taking a look into the retail investment surge 13 Apr 2021 / 01:41 H. PETALING JAYA: With the surge in retail investment driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a typical narrative of changes of opportunity cost, increase in investable income - from mortgage moratorium and other stimulus actions, coupled with the lack of other opportunities which has been driving this trend, said University of Southern California senior economist and Institute for Capital Market Research (ICMR) Malaysia research fellow Dr Joanne Yoong. Zooming in on those who are investing for the very first time, she noted that there is a story of social media, peer effects and unprecedented access.