PSE accounts up 50%, hit 2.86 million in 2024

Stock market accounts in the Philippine bourse surpassed the two-million mark in 2024, with millennials and Gen Z making up the majority group of investors as those from Generation X and the Baby Boomer generation declined, data released by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) revealed.

There were 2.86 million stock market accounts in the PSE in 2024, reflecting a 50.1% increase from the 1.91 million accounts in the previous year. The PSA attributed this to the 62.0% increase in online accounts to 2.47 million from 1.53 million.

“This 50% jump in number of accounts is the highest we have recorded since we started tracking the investor count and profile in 2008,” PSE president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon said in an emailed statement.

“This substantial growth was made possible by the enabling of digital platforms to connect to PSE’s trading engine, thereby facilitating the trading by investors in the market. PSE is committed to being true to its advocacy of promoting financial inclusion,” he added.

Retail investors accounted for 98.9% of total accounts, while institutional investors made up the remaining 1.1%. Local investors owned 99.0% of accounts, while the rest were owned by foreign investors.

Broken down, the biggest age group of retail investors was held by millennials or those aged 30 to 44 with 48.8% of total accounts, up from 45.6% the past year. They also accounted for 51.6% of online accounts, up from 49.0% in 2023.

Investors aged 18 to 29, falling under Gen Z, held 26.5% of total accounts, up 19.5% year on year. They also held 28.4% of online accounts, up from 21.5% previously.

Millennials and Gen Z accounted for a total of 75.3% of total retail accounts, and 80% of online accounts.

The two remaining age groups posted declines—the 45 to 59 age group or Generation X posted a decline to 17.4% of total accounts from 20.2% previously, and 16.3% of online accounts from 18.6%; while those aged 60 and above accounted for 7.3% of total accounts from 14.8%, and to 3.7% from 10.9% of online accounts.

Local investors accounted for 99.4% of the total, with those in Metro Manila posting a decline to account for 49.3% of total investors from 68.2% the past year, while other areas in the country posted increases. Balance Luzon accounted for 28.4%, Visayas with 10.8%, and Mindanao with 10.9%.

The remaining 0.6% of the total accounts were held by foreign nationalities, with the most number of accounts being Japanese with 19.9%, Chinese with 19.8%, and Americans with 13.0%.

Female investors made up 50.7% of total accounts and 50.8% of online accounts, while the male investors shared 49.3% of total accounts and 49.2% of online accounts.

The biggest chunk or 82.4% of total retail accounts were made of investors making less than P500,000 yearly. They were followed by investors earning above P1 million with 10.9%, and those earning between P500,000 and P1 million with 6.7%.

“We continue to see the impact of partnerships between PSE-accredited trading participants and digital platforms as we see a younger and more geographically diverse investor base,” Monzon said. — BM, GMA Integrated News