The São Paulo stock exchange gets its own Charging Bull

São Paulo’s old town took on another milestone today with the inauguration of a bull sculpture outside the city’s stock exchange, which mimics the Charging Bull statue that stands in New York City’s financial district and represents aggressive investor optimism and financial prosperity .

The statue was designed by Brazilian artist Rafael Brancatelli and renowned investor Pablo Spyer. Located outside the headquarters of the B3 exchange, the five-meter-tall object is made of metal pipes and fiberglass and will occupy a prominent place in São Paulo’s old financial sector, which still sees the comings and goings of brokers on the trading floor.

Bringing the stock market from the professionals to the passers-by of the city is also somewhat of a metaphor for the shift in retail investing in Brazil. The São Paulo stock exchange had 500,000 investors in 2016, but now has more than 4 million, thanks to lower interest rates and the popularity of investments and trading tips on social media.

Mr. Spyer himself is also a symbol of this new era. A few years ago, he started posting irreverent market briefings on social media, using them in accessible language and even developing his own slogans, golden bull (Little Golden Bull) awards whenever the B3 benchmark stock index broke historical records.

His success earned him his own TV show and a partner position with XP, Inc, Brazil’s largest brokerage firm.

“I am honored to be a part of this moment. The golden bull (…) is a gift for all Brazilians”, He wrote on Twitter.