Nigerian Exchange (NGX) brokerage data for the first full trading week of 2026 week ended January 9, 2026, shows that the top 10 stockbrokers accounted for 54.52% of total market volume and 48.83% of total market value.
CardinalStone Securities Limited (CSSL) emerged as the most active broker both volume and value as market activity remained heavily concentrated among a small group of dealing firms including Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers, Meristem, and Cordros Securities.
Others are Atlass Portfolios, Afrinvest Securities, and Reward Investment and Services. EFG Hermes Nigeria, APT Securities and Funds, and StoneX Financial Nigeria completed the top ten brokers.
What the data is saying:
NGX data reveal that a concentration of trades among 10 brokerage firms accounting for 54.52% of total market volume and 48.83% of value in the review period.
During the week, NGX executed total turnover of 4.164 billion shares worth N94.026 billion in 248,254 deals.
This means that the top ten brokers executed trades amounting to N45.913 billion in transaction value. CardinalStone Securities led decisively, accounting for 24.93% of total volume and 11.62% of total value.
The sharp gap between CSSL and other brokers highlights strong concentration in trade execution.
Differences between volume and value rankings suggest distinct broker strategies, ranging from high-turnover trading to large-value institutional deals.
CSSL leads by a wide margin
CSSL executed 2.08 billion shares, representing 24.93% of total market volume for the period—by far the largest share among all brokers.
This means nearly one in every four shares traded on the NGX during the week passed through CardinalStone’s books.
The next closest competitors by volume were Morgan Capital Securities Limited (464.7 million shares, 5.58%) and Meristem Stockbrokers Limited (428.1 million shares, 5.14%), both far behind the market leader.
In value terms, CSSL also ranked first, handling transactions worth N21.91 billion, equivalent to 11.62% of total market value during the period.
This dual leadership in both volume and value is notable, as it suggests the firm captured a broad mix of high-frequency trades and large-ticket transactions.
Different strengths across brokers
While some brokers ranked high on volume, others featured more prominently by value—highlighting different trading profiles across the market.
Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers and Meristem followed CSSL on the value table, trading N12.78 billion and N12.73 billion respectively, despite not matching CSSL’s dominance in share count. Cordros Securities also stood out with N10.86 billion in traded value.
Meanwhile, firms such as Atlass Portfolios, Afrinvest Securities, and Reward Investment and Services appeared among the top 10 by volume but did not make the top 10 by value, suggesting higher turnover in lower-priced stocks or smaller average trade sizes.
Conversely, EFG Hermes Nigeria, APT Securities and Funds, and StoneX Financial Nigeria featured in the value ranking without appearing in the volume top 10, pointing to fewer but larger transactions.
What you should know
According to the NGX report for full year 2025, top 10 brokers by volume traded a combined 223.7 billion shares, accounting for 49.41% of all broker-executed transactions during the one-year period ended December 31, 2025, up from 118.95 billion in the prior year.
- By transaction value, the dominance was even more pronounced as the top 10 brokers executed trades worth N7.3 trillion, representing 61.82% of the total value traded across the market, up from N3.13 trillion in 2024.
- CardinalStone Securities emerged as the top broker by transaction value, executing trades worth N2.18 trillion in 2025, compared to N696 billion in 2024.
- This represents a commanding 18.30% of total market value and 29.60% of the value handled by the top 10 brokers.
The firm also ranked 2nd by volume, facilitating 49 billion shares, or 10.82% of total market volume, reinforcing its dominance across both value and activity. One full week into the new, the firm has sustained its clear lead.
