PSE stock market accounts up by 11.3% last year

The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) on Wednesday said stock market accounts rose by 11.3% to 1.91 million last year from 2022, showing higher investor participation.

The growth came from new accounts opened via the GStocks PH platform of electronic wallet GCash, the PSE said in a statement, citing data from its annual investor profile report.

GStocks PH helped increase the number of online accounts by 21.2% to 1.53 million in 2023, accounting for 80% of total stock market accounts, the local bourse said.

“Giving e-wallet holders direct access to the stock market is instrumental in our drive to increase retail investor participation in the market,” PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon said in the statement.

But the number of accounts was muted after the cleanup of dormant accounts done by trading participants pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the PSE said.

Retail investors accounted for 98.5% of total accounts, while institutional investors took up 1.5%. Local investors made up 98.5% of total accounts, and the rest were foreigners.

Retail accounts accounted for 99.9% of total online accounts, 98.8% of which were owned by local investors. Foreign online accounts accounted for the rest.

A partnership with the Department of Migrant Workers to hold financial literacy and stock investing sessions for overseas Filipino workers and their families is expected to boost the number of retail investors in the stock market, Mr. Monzon said.

The average value per online trade increased by 1.8% to PHP 47,050.48. The average value per trade grew by 9.6% to PHP 85,385.54.

Male investors took up 50.6% of the stock market accounts, female investors accounted for the rest. Female investors accounted for 51% of online accounts while male investors took up the rest.

Investors aged 30 to 44 had the biggest share in online and total accounts at 49% and 45.6%.

For online accounts, investors aged 18 to 29 took up 21.5%, followed by the 45-59 bracket at 18.4% and 60 and above at 10.9%.

For total accounts, investors aged 45 to 59 accounted for 20.2%, followed by people aged 18 to 29 at 19.5% and those aged 60 and above at 14.8%.

The PSE said investors earning less than PHP 500,000 accounted for 76.7% of online investors and 70.9% of the total investors.

Investors earning between PHP 500,000 to PHP 1 million took up 11.9% of online accounts and 14.4% of the total accounts.

Those earning above PHP 1 million made up 11.4% of online accounts and 14.7% of the total accounts.

Metro Manila-based investors took up 68% of online accounts and 68.2% of the total accounts.

“Aside from e-wallets serving as access points to stock investing, the PSE’s programs such as PSE EASy paved the way for investors based outside Metro Manila to invest in the stock market,” Mr. Monzon said.

“I hope this growth in non-Metro Manila investors will be sustained over the years so that the geographical aspect of financial inclusion is addressed,” he added.

Overseas accounts took up 1% of online accounts and 1.1% of the total accounts.

Among foreigners, the top three investors were Japanese, Chinese and American, the PSE said.

Mr. Monzon said investor education remains a priority of the PSE, citing the operator’s revamped PSE Academy website that can be accessed for investment literacy.

“Alongside encouraging retail investors to invest in the stock market, the PSE pursues initiatives beneficial to them,” the PSE chief said.

For one, it has proposed to the regulator to lower the minimum investment requirement. “We are also fine-tuning the PSE EQUIP platform to provide more comprehensive data access to retail investors.” — By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter