Kiwoom Securities Achieves Record High Stock Market Share of 22.8% in Q3

Individual market share 29.6%... Maintains No.1 domestic stock market share
2.4 million new accounts opened at Kiwoom Securities this year

"Impact of increased participation and trading volume by individual investors"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kiwoom Securities' domestic stock market share in the third quarter of this year recorded an all-time high. This is interpreted as a result of a surge in individual investors' market participation.

On the 7th, Kiwoom Securities announced that its domestic stock market share in the third quarter reached 22.8% (individual market share 29.6%, quarterly basis, based on securities company transaction contract amount), marking an all-time high.

▲Kiwoom Securities Headquarters

During the third quarter, the daily contract amount in the domestic stock sector exceeded 19.5 trillion KRW, breaking the all-time record in the domestic stock sector, and the cumulative contract amount in the overseas stock sector increased by 1860% compared to the same period last year.

This is the result of a sharp increase in market participation by individual investors and an increase in market transaction amounts this year.

In 2019, the average daily transaction amount in the stock market was 10.8 trillion KRW, but in the third quarter of this year, it surged to 31.1 trillion KRW.

The average daily contract amount through Kiwoom Securities in the third quarter was 14.2 trillion KRW, accounting for 22.8% of the total market share. This figure significantly surpasses last year's stock market share of 18.4%, exceeding 24.6% on the 2nd of last month, and on the 8th, it recorded an all-time high daily contract amount of 19.5 trillion KRW, surpassing the 16.7 trillion KRW recorded in March within six months.

Kiwoom Securities stood out even more in the individual market share.

▲Quarterly Domestic Stock Market Share (Source: Kiwoom Securities)

The individual market share in the third quarter recorded 29.6%, continuously hovering around 30% since the third quarter of last year, firmly maintaining the top position in the domestic stock market share.

A Kiwoom Securities official evaluated, "It is a great achievement that individual investors massively entered the stock market to the extent that investor deposits once exceeded 60 trillion KRW, and we consistently recorded a market share of around 30%."

The effect of preempting the non-face-to-face account opening market is leading to an increase in new account openings.

In March alone, new accounts numbered about 431,000, reaching a cumulative total of 1.43 million in the first half of the year. This is a 286% increase compared to the second half of last year.

In the third quarter alone, more than 940,000 accounts were opened, bringing the total number of new accounts opened through Kiwoom Securities this year to 2.4 million.

Furthermore, not only domestic stocks but also overseas stocks such as those in the U.S. and China, as well as overseas futures and overseas options, have expanded their trading proportions, diversifying the portfolio within the retail sector.

▲Quarterly Trends of Overseas Stock Commitments and Active Accounts

In overseas stock trading, the cumulative contract amount reached 36.4 trillion KRW by the third quarter, increasing by more than 1860% compared to the same period last year, expanding market dominance. The trading systems 'Hero Moon Global' and 'Hero Moon S Global', opened last year considering user convenience, faithfully reflect customer needs and provide an optimal trading environment. They also offer various free overseas stock investment information through reports written by overseas stock specialist analysts and Channel K broadcasts, which have the highest number of subscribers among securities company YouTube channels.

In overseas derivatives, based on the platform's dominance effect, the daily trading volume of overseas futures options increased by 209% compared to the same period last year. In derivatives trading, leveraging system competitiveness as a strength, specialized chart screens and various order screens tailored to user requirements are developed and provided, and plans to expand product competitiveness and add new products are underway.

The asset management sector, including bonds, ELS, and funds, is also growing significantly. Through a system that allows direct online trading of bonds, which were traditionally considered exclusive to institutional investors, with a minimum of 10,000 KRW, accessibility to investment has been improved. Domestic bond sales, which exceeded 500 billion KRW last year, reached last year's sales volume in the third quarter alone and are expected to exceed 700 billion KRW this year.

ELS sales have also continued to perform well, with the U.S. stock 1-year maturity type ELS sales, which started last year, showing a sales increase of more than 180% in the third quarter compared to the previous year. Monthly sales have continuously set new records since May, maintaining an upward trend.

In addition to the traditional strength in the retail sector, competitiveness is being strengthened in non-retail business sectors such as IB and wholesale.

In the IB sector, despite the deteriorated business environment due to the COVID-19 crisis, focusing on traditional IB sector operations, operating profit reached 58.1 billion KRW in the first half, a 56% increase compared to the same period last year, strengthening competitiveness.

In the wholesale sector, in addition to stock and bond brokerage for corporations, the over-the-counter derivatives sector recorded outstanding performance, showing a 68% growth compared to the same period last year on a half-year basis.

In the first half of 2019, the retail sector accounted for 51.1% of the company's total operating profit, and the non-retail sector accounted for 48.9%. However, in the first half of 2020, the retail sector's share rose to 76.2%. This is because, while the non-retail sector achieved stable growth, the retail sector recorded remarkable growth with a 95.4% increase in operating profit compared to the same period last year, thanks to active market participation by individual investors.

A Kiwoom Securities official said, "This growth in the retail sector is expected to continue for the time being due to abundant liquidity based on low interest rates, which has significantly increased total customer deposits in the stock market." He added, "We plan to lead the establishment of a financial culture and investment environment suitable for the non-face-to-face (untact) era and strengthen our financial platform not only through domestic stocks but also overseas stocks, overseas derivatives, funds, domestic and overseas bonds, and ELS."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.