“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 in a statement on Wednesday.
GStocks, which tapped AB Capital Securities as its stockbroker partner, pushed up the share of online accounts to 80 percent of the total.
As a result, online accounts stood at 1.53 million last year, up by more than 21 percent.
Higher Transaction Value
According to the PSE, the average value per online trade rose 1.8 percent to P47,050 versus the previous year.
The overall average value per trade in terms of total market transactions rose 9.6 percent to P85,385.
Challenging market conditions weighed on valuations, as the Philippine benchmark index slipped 1.1 percent to 6,450.04 by the end of 2023.
Focus on Partnerships
Monzon said new efforts to collaborate and increase awareness and educate investors will support further growth.
“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.
Retail Backbone
The bourse recorded fresh gains despite a major cleanup of dormant accounts done by trading participants. This was in accordance with Republic Act No. 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
PSE data showed retail investors made up 98.5 percent of total accounts while the remaining 1.5 percent belonged to institutional investors.
Of these, 98.5 percent were local investors while the rest were foreign participants.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
