Buying 0.1 Shares of 'Samba' Stock Monthly... Increase in Fractional Share Trading Among 2030 Generation

Fractional Stock Trading One Month After Launch, Surpasses 50,000 Users
Favorable for Long-term and Strategic Investment in High-priced Blue-chip Stocks

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gyehwa, Intern] The practice of trading fractional shares?buying and selling less than one full share, such as 0.1 or 0.5 shares?is increasing among the 2030 generation. Compared to middle-aged and older investors, the 2030 generation generally has fewer disposable assets, so they can invest small amounts in high-priced stocks that cost hundreds of thousands of won per share. According to KB Securities on the 15th, from September 26, when fractional share trading was introduced in Korea, to October 31, about one month, out of 20,372 customers who traded fractional shares, 9,079 (approximately 45%) were aged 30 or younger. This is significantly higher than the 32% proportion of investors aged 30 or younger among general traders during the same period.

The advantage of fractional trading is that it allows investors to buy high-priced stocks in smaller portions. For example, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment company and a representative high-priced stock in the U.S. market, has a share price exceeding 600 million won per share. For ordinary retail investors, buying such stocks in whole shares limits the number of people who can invest. Because of this, fractional trading for U.S. stocks has been available domestically since 2019.

Currently, the highest-priced stock in the domestic market is Samsung Biologics, which closed at 901,000 won on the 14th. Other major stocks with high prices include Samsung SDI (759,000 won) and LG Energy Solution (604,000 won). Among fractional share trading services for domestic stocks, the most purchased stocks are Samsung Electronics, LG Energy Solution, and Hyundai Motor, in that order. Notably, Samsung Electronics and LG Energy Solution together accounted for 55.1% of the total purchase amount among the top 10 traded stocks.

These investors particularly invest a fixed amount regularly, even if it is a small sum. For example, they buy 100,000 won worth of Samsung Electronics shares and 100,000 won worth of LG Energy Solution shares every month, dividing the purchase into fractional amounts regardless of the stock price. Among applicants for KB Securities’ fractional trading service, 15,000 accounts applied for this type of regular purchase service, accounting for more than 28% of all fractional trading accounts. A financial investment industry official said, "Fractional share trading is an optimized service for young investors who want to invest long-term and systematically in blue-chip stocks," adding, "The number of fractional share trading subscribers, currently about 60,000, is expected to soon exceed 100,000."

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