"Mom, Did You Buy Stocks in My Name Too?"... 3 Trillion Won Accumulated in Children's Accounts

720,000 Minor Shareholders, 2.98 Trillion Won in Holdings
Samsung Electronics: 340,000 Minors, 5.6 Million Won Per Person

Amid a strong rally in the domestic stock market, the value of stocks held by underage investors last year neared 3 trillion won. Although the volume of shares held decreased, the valuation rose significantly due to rising stock prices.

On the 20th, the domestic stock market index was displayed on the electronic board in the dealing room of Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by The Asia Business Daily Database

According to the Korea Securities Depository's SEIBro portal on April 26, as of the end of 2025, there were a total of 728,344 underage (under 20 years old) shareholders at 88 listed companies among the top 200 companies by market capitalization for which shareholder data by age group is publicly available. This amounts to an average of 8,277 underage shareholders per listed company.

The estimated value of shares held by these underage investors is approximately 2.9761 trillion won. Although both the number of shareholders and the number of shares held declined compared to the previous year, the valuation increased significantly due to rising stock prices. In fact, the average number of underage shareholders per listed company decreased from 8,466 in 2024 to 8,277 in 2025, while the average number of shares held dropped from about 400,000 to 370,000. In contrast, the average value of shares held per company by underage investors surged from about 19.6 billion won to 33.8 billion won.

By individual stock, Samsung Electronics attracted the largest number of underage investors. As of the end of last year, there were 343,694 underage shareholders in Samsung Electronics, meaning nearly half of all underage investors held shares in the company. Compared to 2024, the number of shareholders dropped by about 13% from 394,886 to 343,694, and the number of shares held declined by 17% from 19,402,718 to 16,063,292.

However, as the stock price soared from 53,200 won to 119,900 won, the average value of shares held per person more than doubled, increasing from about 2.61 million won to 5.6 million won.

On the other hand, the number of underage shareholders in financial companies showed an increasing trend. The number of underage shareholders at Samsung Life Insurance rose by 25% in one year, while Mirae Asset Securities saw a 74% increase. In addition, major financial stocks such as NH Investment & Securities and DB Insurance experienced a broader inflow of underage investors. This is interpreted as a reflection of expectations for benefits amid last year's market surge.

Meanwhile, according to the Korea Exchange's Information Data System, individual investors recorded a net selling of 19.2644 trillion won in the KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX markets throughout last year.

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