Electronic signboards at a Hana Bank dealing room in Seoul show the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 3,086.66 points on Feb. 18, 2021, down 47.07 points, or 1.5 percent, from the previous session’s close. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of South Koreans in their 30s who opt to directly invest in stocks rather than other types of financial assets is increasing at a rapid pace.
Rep. Yoo Gyeong-joon of the main opposition People Power Party recently analyzed investment data from Statistics Korea.
The analysis showed that the share of South Koreans in their 30s who showed preference towards direct stock investment among financial asset investment options increased to 9.6 percent last year from 3.4 percent in 2016.
During the same period, the share of those who preferred to invest in stocks for themselves increased across all age groups ,but those in their 30s marked the highest growth.
In particular, those in their 30s who just started family life have a high level of fear about the widening of the ‘asset gap’ compared to others in similar age groups resulting from the spike in real estate prices and the bullish stock market.
The share of those in their 30s who showed preference towards direct stock investment marked higher growth compared to those in their 40s, for which the share rose from 3.1 percent to 7.6 percent and those in their 20s, whose share rose from 2.4 percent to 5.3 percent.
In contrast, the preference towards investment in mutual funds declined sharply among those in their 30s.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
