US Individual Investors Allocate 41% of Financial Assets to Stocks... 'All-Time High'

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Along with the rising trend in the U.S. stock market, it has been revealed that American individual investors are investing a significant portion of their financial assets in stocks.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 2nd (local time), as of last month, the proportion of stock investments relative to U.S. household financial assets reached 41%.

This is the highest level since 1952, when JP Morgan and the U.S. Federal Reserve began tracking related data.

The proportion of stock investments relative to U.S. household financial assets was 35% in March 2019 but dropped to 30% in March last year when the stock market plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The so-called "debt investment," where individual investors borrow money to invest, has also surged sharply.

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization of the U.S. securities industry, margin loan balances reached a record high of $823 billion (approximately 918.7 trillion KRW) last month. This nearly doubled from $479 billion in March last year, the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stock fever among U.S. individual investors emerged amid the continued rise of the U.S. stock market.

The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index has set a new record high 25 times this year alone, supported by the expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations, large-scale U.S. economic stimulus measures, and a clear economic recovery trend.

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