The US stock market had a great 2023 with the S&P 500 Index gaining 24% and the Nasdaq 100 Index having its best year since 1999, but mom-and-pop investors may have missed out on the excitement.

Retail investors fled US equities last year, according Bank of America Corp. client flow data. Meanwhile, hedge funds appear to have been the smart money, plowing cash into stocks as the market continued to soar.