Stock market accounts at the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. rose 11 percent in 2023 to 1.9 million versus only 1.71 million in 2022, mainly the result of accounts created through the bourse’s online platform.
According to the Stock Market Investor Profile, new accounts opened through the GStocksPH platform pushed the share of online accounts to 80 percent of total stock market accounts.
Online accounts total 1.52 million as of end-2023, up 21 percent or 266,861 accounts from a year earlier.
“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 CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.
“PSE’s partnership with the Department of Migrant Workers to conduct learning sessions on financial literacy and stock investing for overseas Filipino workers 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 in accordance with Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Retail investors accounted for 98.5 percent of accounts. The remaining 1.5 percent belonged to institutional investors. Local investors made up 98.5 percent of total accounts while the remaining 1.5 percent were foreign investors.
In the online space, retail accounts comprised 99.9 percent of total online accounts. Local investors own 98.8 percent of the online accounts while foreign online accounts took up the remaining 1.2 percent.
The average value per online trade rose nearly two percent last year to P47,050.48 from only P46,236.40 in 2022.
The value per trade in terms of total market transactions last year averaged P85,385.54, a nine-percent increase from P77,926.41.
Similar to 2022, female investors accounted for 51 percent of online accounts while male investors comprised the remaining 49.0 percent last year.
In terms of total accounts, however, there were slightly more male investors in 2023 or 50.6 percent from a year earlier of only 49.8 percent compared against female investors of only 49.4 percent from 50.2 percent.
“The programs that democratize access to the stock market played a role in investor location data in 2023. Aside from e-wallets serving as an 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,” Monzon said.
