"Minors Already Holding Billion-Won Stocks"... Number of Young Shareholders Doubles in a Year

High-Value Stock Holdings Among Minors Surge
Number of "Over 100 Million Won" Minor Shareholders Doubles in One Year
However, Total Number of Minor Shareholders Declines

The number of minors holding stocks worth at least 100 million won has nearly doubled in just one year. Although the total number of minor shareholders actually saw a slight decrease, the rapid increase among those holding high-value stocks signals a clear trend of such assets becoming more concentrated among wealthier minors.

Students going to school. Photo by Yonhap News.

5,400 minors hold over 100 million won in stocks…93% surge in one year

According to Yonhap News on September 15, citing data submitted by Assemblyman Park Sunghoon of the People Power Party, who sits on the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, the number of minors holding at least 100 million won in domestic listed stocks stood at 5,400 as of the end of last year—a 92.9% jump from 2,800 the previous year. The number of minors holding between 50 million won and 100 million won also rose sharply, from 4,400 to 10,000, a 127.3% increase.

In contrast, the number of minors holding smaller amounts either decreased or grew much more slowly. Those with less than 10 million won in stocks decreased from 676,600 to 606,800 over the same period. Minors with holdings between 10 and 50 million won increased from 89,600 to 147,300, up 64.4%.

The total number of minors holding stocks also declined slightly, from 773,400 at the end of 2024 to 769,600 at the end of last year. The number of minor shareholders had been rising steadily—from 656,300 in 2021 to 753,300 in 2022 and 761,700 in 2023—but the trend plateaued last year, with only a marginal increase.

Fewer minor shareholders, but valuation surpasses 7 trillion won... Under-10s hold 1.8 trillion won

Despite the decrease in the number of minor shareholders, the total value of stocks held by minors soared from 4.65 trillion won in 2024 to 7.31 trillion won at the end of last year. This pattern was particularly pronounced among shareholders under 10 years old.

Image to aid understanding of the article. Getty Images

The number of minor shareholders under the age of 10 fell by over 20,000, from 254,700 in 2024 to 232,100 last year, but their combined holdings jumped 47.0%, from 1.25 trillion won to 1.84 trillion won. This indicates that rather than the base of minor investors expanding, the proportion of wealthier minor shareholders is increasing.

However, it should be noted that the deposit statistics from the Korea Securities Depository are based on the closing price of the last trading day of each year. As a result, the surge in the domestic stock market last year should also be considered as a factor behind the increased valuation of existing minor shareholders’ assets.

Most purchased by minors: Samsung Electronics and SK hynix…U.S. index ETFs draw major funds

Minor investors have been focusing their purchases on large domestic stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, as well as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking major U.S. indices.

According to data compiled by a major securities firm on September 10, Samsung Electronics topped the list of net purchases by minor investors at 51.5 billion won, followed by SK hynix at 34.9 billion won, and Hyundai Motor at 10.9 billion won.

The next most popular stocks were Samsung Electronics preferred shares (4.1 billion won), NAVER (3.8 billion won), Daishin Securities preferred shares (2.9 billion won), SYTS (Samyang Corporation, 2.2 billion won), Doosan Enerbility (2.1 billion won), Korea Electric Power Corporation (1.8 billion won), and LS ELECTRIC (1.8 billion won).

Among ETFs, 'TIGER U.S. S&P500' recorded the highest net buying at 25 billion won. This was followed by 'KODEX U.S. NASDAQ100' (13.9 billion won), 'KODEX U.S. S&P500' (10.2 billion won), and 'TIGER U.S. NASDAQ100' (8.9 billion won), with products tracking U.S. benchmark indices dominating the top spots.

Assemblyman Park Sunghoon stated, "That minors' stock holdings have surpassed 7 trillion won indicates that stock investment is no longer the domain of adults alone." He added, "Apart from the positive aspect of broadening investor participation, there must be thorough scrutiny to ensure that the transfer of assets from parents to children does not result in illicit donations or gaps in financial source tracking."

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