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

Amid the bullish trend in the domestic stock market, the value of stocks held by underage investors last year approached 3 trillion won. Although their holdings decreased, the valuation surged 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 the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by The Asia Business Daily

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According to SEIBro, the securities information portal of Korea Securities Depository, as of the end of 2025, there were 728,344 underage (under 20) shareholders at 88 companies among the top 200 listed companies by market capitalization, for which shareholder demographics by age were disclosed. This amounts to an average of 8,277 underage shareholders per listed company.

The value of the stocks held by these underage investors is estimated at approximately 2.9761 trillion won. Although both the number of shareholders and the number of shares held decreased compared to the previous year, the valuation rose sharply due to rising share prices. In fact, the number of underage shareholders per listed company fell from 8,466 in 2024 to 8,277 in 2025, and the number of shares held declined from about 400,000 shares to 370,000 shares. On the other hand, the value of shares held per listed company by underage shareholders jumped significantly from about 19.6 billion won to 33.8 billion won.

By 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 put their money 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 decreased by 17% year-on-year, from 19,402,718 shares to 16,063,292 shares.

However, with the share price soaring from 53,200 won to 119,900 won, the average value held per person more than doubled, rising from about 2.61 million won to around 5.6 million won.

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Meanwhile, the number of underage shareholders in financial companies has been on the rise. The number of underage shareholders in Samsung Life Insurance increased by 25% in just one year, while Mirae Asset Securities saw a 74% increase. In addition, there was a noticeable increase in underage investors across major financial stocks, including NH Investment & Securities and DB Insurance. This is believed to reflect expectations for gains during last year's market rally.

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

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