Stock market accounts reached 1.906 million in 2023, up 11.3 percent from 1.71 million in 2022 as more individuals opened new accounts through the GStocksPH platform, according to the Philippine Stock Exchange’s (PSE) annual stock market investor profile report.
New accounts opened through the GStocksPH platform accounted for 80 percent of the total stock market accounts.
Online accounts stood reached 1,525,768 as of end-2023, up by 21.2 percent or 266,861 accounts.
“Giving e-wallet holders direct access to the stock market is instrumental in our drive to increase retail investor participation in the market,” said PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon in a statement Wednesday.
“PSE’s partnership with the Department of Migrant Workers to conduct learning sessions on financial literacy and stock investing for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families is another initiative that can potentially boost the number of retail investors in the stock market once this program is fully implemented,” Monzon said.
The number of accounts, however, was muted by the cleanup of dormant accounts done by trading participants (TP) in accordance with Republic Act No. 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Retail investors made up 98.5 percent of total accounts, while the remaining 1.5 percent belonged to institutional investors.
Local investors also accounted for 98.5 percent of total accounts, while the remaining 1.5 percent were foreign investors.
Meanwhile, retail accounts comprised 99.9 percent of total online accounts with local investors owning 98.8 percent of the online accounts. Foreign online accounts took up the remaining 1.2 percent.
The average value per online trade inched up by 1.8 percent to P47,050.48 from the 2022 average of P46,236.40.
Similar to 2022, female investors also accounted for 51 percent of online accounts, while male investors comprised the remaining 49 percent in 2023.
Investors aged 30 to 44 continued to have the biggest share in online and total accounts, accounting for 49 percent of online accounts, down from 55.7 percent in 2022.
All other age groups showed an increase in their portion of online accounts, from 20.8 percent to 21.5 percent for the 18- to 29-year-old investors, 18.4 percent to 18.6 percent for the 45- to 59-year-olds and 5.0 percent to 10.9 percent for the 60 and above age range.
The share of Metro Manila-based investors showed a significant decline to 68 percent from 84.6 percent for online accounts and 68.2 percent from 81.5 percent for total accounts.
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao registered growth in online accounts.
“The programs that democratize access to the stock market played a role in the investor location data in 2023. Aside from e-wallets serving as access point to stock investing, the Exchange’s programs such as PSE EASy paved the way for investors based outside Metro Manila to invest in the stock market. 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,” said Monzon.