By Joseph Adinolfi
One portfolio manager has made some interesting connections between the two
From time to time, investors like to look for fresh insights outside the world of markets.
In the latest piece for his “Owenomics” newsletter, Acadian Asset Management’s Owen Lamont did just that with the Labubu craze, which has created legions of fans around the world.
At first blush, it might not seem like investors have much to learn from the treasure-seeking thrill that collecting these tiny, troll-like dolls appears to have inspired in a legion of fans around the world.
But Lamont managed to hit on a few interesting parallels. To clarify, he doesn’t believe the Labubu craze is a repeat of the Beanie Babies bubble that blossomed in the 1990s (at least, not yet). Still, the latest toy mania does tell us something important about this moment in financial history, Lamont said.
Risk is seen as a good thing
According to portfolio-management theory, investors aim to maximize returns, while minimizing risk.
But these days, individual investors have turned this practice on its head. Instead of sticking with staid, safe investments like index funds, those trading on Robinhood Markets or another platform are increasingly gravitating toward risky products like options, leveraged ETFs and penny stocks.
This growing appetite for risk is also reflected by the Labubu craze. Instead of knowing which doll a fan is buying ahead of time, Labubus arrive in blind boxes that are then purchased without any knowledge of its contents. This injects the experience with anticipation and a “spice of risk.” It has also helped inspire some to pay hefty premiums for some of these dolls on the secondary market.
Scarcity drives demand
The obvious parallel here is between Labubus and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Pop Mart International Group Ltd., the company that markets and sells the toys, has used artificial scarcity to its advantage. Partly as a result, its stock has risen nearly 200% since the start of 2025.
“Every con artist knows that you want to get the mark invested in the con by making them come to you. Similarly, the narrative about crypto is that it is scarce and therefore valuable. In both cases, the scarcity is artificial but the resulting behavior is real,” Lamont said.
Social media helps, too
Social media has become the avenue through which celebrity behavior influences consumer behavior, and that is certainly true as far as Labubus are concerned, Lamont observed. Photos of celebrities like Lisa from Blackpink, Dua Lipa and Rihanna with their Labubus viewed on TikTok and Instagram have helped to popularize the dolls.
Social media is also playing an increasingly important role in spreading the appeal of what Lamont described as “harmful financial content.”
Lamont didn’t elaborate, but seeing somebody post a big win from trading risky products like options on Reddit might inspire others to try something similar. Inevitably, not everybody will be as lucky as the original poster.
-Joseph Adinolfi
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-11-25 1538ET
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.