Online stock trading accounts up 28% in 2016 – PSE

Online investors tapped into the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) rose by 27.8 percent in 2016 as market players adapt to online trading platform, data released by the PSE showed.

According to the PSE annual report on stock market accounts, online trading accounts grew by 27.8 percent to 302,516 in 2016 from 236,669 in 2015.

Total stock market accounts grew by 8.5 percent to 773,187 from 712,549 in the same comparable period.

The results were higher trading activity, with online trades growing by 41.4 percent in value turnover and representing a 9.3 percent share in the market's total value turnover.

Online trades made up 53.7 percent of total market transactions in 2016, the first time online transactions were responsible for bulk of trades.

"Technology has played a big role in the growth of our investor base over the years. We are pleased to see that more Filipinos have continued to adopt online trading to invest in the stock market," PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.

In terms of geographic location, 96.1 percent of retail investors were based in the Philippines. The rest were based overseas.

Of those based locally, 70.6 percent was in Metro Manila. The rest of Luzon accounted for 16.4 percent, Visayas for 6.2 percent and Mindanao for 2.9 percent.

Nearly 40 percent of investors were 30 to 44 years old, followed by 45 to 59 which accounted for 26.4 percent.

Investors who are 60 years old and above accounted for 19.3 percent, while those between 18 and 29 accounted for 14.8 percent of total investors.

"We are pleased with the continued growth of stock market investors in the market," Monzon said.

"Clearly, we have a long way to go and we at the PSE will continue our financial literacy programs to demystify stock market investing and make investing as understandable and accessible as bank or insurance products," he added. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News