Kakao Pay Securities Surpasses 15 Trillion Won in Entrusted Assets: "Transitioning to a Retail Asset Management Platform"

Proportion of Domestic Stocks Expands to 44%
Pension Savings and ISA Assets Also Growing Rapidly

Kakao Pay Securities announced on April 23 that, as of April 17, its entrusted assets had surpassed 15 trillion won. Entrusted assets are a key metric reflecting the total assets entrusted by clients, including the assessed value of domestic and overseas stocks, Korean won and foreign currency deposits, funds, pensions, and ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts).

According to Kakao Pay Securities, entrusted assets exceeded 10 trillion won in January and surpassed 15 trillion won in just about three months. This represents an increase of 224% compared to the same month last year and 31.2% since the start of the year.

The company attributes this growth more to actual capital inflows rather than merely market gains. In the first quarter of this year, net capital inflows totaled 3.668 trillion won, while the net purchase volume of domestic and overseas stocks reached 3.6202 trillion won. This accounts for about 70% of the 5 trillion won increase in entrusted assets over the three-month period, indicating substantial growth driven by real capital rather than stock price effects.

By asset category, domestic stocks showed the most significant increase. Domestic stock assets surged by 94% compared to the time when assets exceeded 10 trillion won, reaching 6.5323 trillion won. The proportion of domestic stocks also rose from 33.6% at the 10 trillion won milestone to 44.2% as of April. A Kakao Pay Securities official explained, "We are expanding our scope from a platform centered on overseas stocks to a comprehensive investment platform that also includes domestic stocks."

The growth of tax-advantaged accounts has also been a foundation for the expansion of entrusted assets. Pension savings assets increased by 58% compared to January this year, and ISA assets, launched in November last year, grew about fourfold during the same period. The combined share of pension savings and ISAs in total entrusted assets rose from 5.5% to 7.6%.

Monthly Active Users (MAU) increased from 3.65 million in January to 4.02 million in March. The cumulative number of new users from the start of the year through April was about 340,000. This virtuous cycle of user growth and capital inflow is interpreted as a key driver of entrusted asset growth.

Kakao Pay Securities sees this milestone of surpassing 15 trillion won as a landmark in its transformation into a "retail asset management platform." The company plans to further diversify its product lineup, focusing on tax-advantaged accounts such as pension savings, ISAs, and RIAs (Returning Investor Accounts), as well as major services, to meet diverse investment needs within a single platform and further enhance its portfolio.

Shin Hocheol, CEO of Kakao Pay Securities, stated, "While surpassing 10 trillion won in entrusted assets demonstrated retail-driven growth in scale, reaching 15 trillion won means that both user and platform growth are accelerating together. We aim to achieve 20 trillion won in entrusted assets within this year, and will continue to strengthen investment experiences and product competitiveness tailored to users’ asset-building stages."

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