Domestic Individual Investors Hold an Average of 72.45 Million KRW Each... Samsung Electronics Holds 70 Trillion KRW

Individual 30%, Started Stocks for the First Time Last Year
Increase in Female and 2030 Age Group Share... Investment in Blue-Chip Stocks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] It has been revealed that domestic individual investors hold an average of 72.45 million KRW worth of stocks per person.

According to the 'Status of Individual Owners' Holdings of Listed Companies as of December 2020' announced by the Korea Securities Depository on the 1st, the amount held per person increased by 4.24 million KRW (6.2%) from 68.21 million KRW at the end of 2019 to 72.45 million KRW at the end of last year.

The total stock investment holdings of all individual owners (9.14 million people) amounted to approximately 662 trillion KRW, an increase of 243 trillion KRW (58%) compared to the previous year (419 trillion KRW), accounting for 28% of the total market capitalization (2,362 trillion KRW).

Although the number of individual owners has shown a continuous upward trend, it increased by about 50% (3 million people) from 6.14 million in 2019 to 9.14 million in 2020, but most are still small investors holding less than 50 million KRW.

The number of individual owners holding less than 50 million KRW was 7.49 million, accounting for 82% of all individual owners, but their share of the total individual holdings of 662 trillion KRW was only 10.5% (70 trillion KRW). This indicates that some 'big players' among individual investors hold the majority of the individual investment amounts.

Last year, due to the impact of COVID-19, a large influx of individual investors led to an increase in both the number of investors and the amount held. In particular, the number of female investors increased significantly.

Compared to the previous year, the number of male owners increased by 41% from 3.73 million to 5.25 million, while females increased by 61% from 2.41 million to 3.89 million. Notably, among female investors in their 20s, 67% (320,000 people) started investing in stocks last year.

The increase in the amount held by women in 2020 (75 trillion KRW) was 60 times the increase from the previous year (1.3 trillion KRW), while the increase for men (168 trillion KRW) was 10.3 times the previous year's increase (16.3 trillion KRW).

By age group, the younger generation aged 30 and under showed a sharp increase of 103% (1.6 million people) compared to the previous year, showing a higher growth rate than other age groups.

Thanks to this growth, the proportion of stock owners aged 30 and under among domestic stock owners rose from 25.3% in 2019 to 34.6% in 2020. Although the number of owners in their 40s and 50s increased last year, their proportion fell from the 50% range to the 40% range.

Although the influx of young investors increased significantly last year, in terms of absolute holdings, those in their 50s held the most at 212 trillion KRW. This was followed by those in their 40s (140 trillion KRW) and 60s (136 trillion KRW), which were higher than the 68 trillion KRW held by those aged 30 and under.

The year-on-year growth rate of holdings was highest among those in their 20s (120.9%), under 20 (114.8%), and 30s (92.6%), but the increase in the amount held was highest among those in their 50s (78.7 trillion KRW), 40s (55.6 trillion KRW), and 60s (47.4 trillion KRW).

In terms of amount held per person, holdings decreased for those aged 20 and under but increased for those aged 30 and above, with higher age groups showing greater growth rates.

Last year, the highest per capita holdings and increases by age group were among those aged 70 and above, followed by those in their 60s, 50s, 40s, and 30s. In particular, the per capita holdings of elderly investors aged 70 and above were 14.6 times higher than those in their 20s and 8.0 times higher than those aged 30 and under.

Individual investors entered the stock market focusing on blue-chip large corporations and new growth sectors. They have been steadily investing in blue-chip companies such as Samsung, LG, SK, and bio companies like Celltrion.

Last year, the top 10 companies by individual holdings and their amounts were Samsung Electronics (70 trillion KRW), Celltrion (20 trillion KRW), Kakao (12 trillion KRW), Celltrion Healthcare (12 trillion KRW), Samsung C&T (12 trillion KRW), Hyundai Motor (11 trillion KRW), LG (8 trillion KRW), SK (7 trillion KRW), Naver (6 trillion KRW), and Samsung SDI (6 trillion KRW).

A Korea Securities Depository official explained, "Individual owners have been steadily investing in blue-chip large corporations such as Samsung, SK, LG, and bio companies like Celltrion over the past five years. Recently, investments in new growth sectors such as communication services (Naver, Kakao, etc.) and batteries (Samsung SDI, etc.) have also been actively progressing."

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