Koreans Dump Stocks for Crypto?! 🤯 You Won’t BELIEVE What Happens Next!

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Right, so apparently South Korean youth, bless their cotton socks, are ditching their own stock markets like last season’s handbag. Instead, they’re flinging their hard-earned (or, let’s be honest, probably Mum and Dad’s) cash at US stocks and, wait for it… crypto. 🤦‍♀️

Declining Youth Participation (Or, The Great Escape)

The Korea Securities Depository, which sounds terribly important, says that investors in their 20s (spotty youths, probably) only made up 9.8% of the market last year. Down from 14.9% in 2021. Honestly, w 🏃‍♀️💨

Stock ownership among the thirty-somethings, who should know better, fell from 9.9% to a measly 7% between 2020 and 2024. While the twenty-somethings, bless them, dropped from 2.2% to 1.6%. Someone get these people a financial advisor! 💸

Even the forty-somethings, who are practically ancient, saw their market share decline from 23% to 22.1%. This has left the over 50s holding a whopping 71% of domestic stocks. Honestly, it’s like a Saga holiday in the stock market. 👵👴

Market Weakness (Or, Uh Oh, Trouble Brewing)

According to the Korea Joongang Daily, which sounds like a very serious newspaper, the Korean markets are showing “troubling signs” as the young traders scarper. Daily trading volume has plummeted from about 23 trillion won (which is, like, a lot of money) in early 2024 to approximately 18 trillion won by the end of the year. Gulp. 📉

“A market that loses younger investors can’t be called healthy,” warned Kim Sang-bong, an economics professor at Hansung University. Well, duh. 🙄

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Korean investors also nearly doubled their foreign stock transactions in 2023, from 59 billion shares to 112 billion. This continued in 2024, increasing another 39% to 156 billion shares. In the first quarter alone, Koreans made record net purchases of nearly $11 billion in US stocks. They’re going global, darling! 🌍

Performance Drives The Shift (Or, Show Me The Money!)

The main reason for this migration is, of course, performance. While the Korean markets have been a bit rubbish, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 50% in 2023 and another 25% in 2024. Ka-ching! 💸

About 72% of Korean investors in US stocks made money in 2023, compared to only 48% in domestic stocks. Crypto performed even better, with Bitcoin surging over 160% last year to reach $108,249. It’s like winning the lottery! 🎉

Korean markets also suffer from structural problems, with the country’s dividend payout ratio of 27% ranking last among 16 major economies. Honestly, it’s a scandal! 😡

While many experts believe fundamental changes in corporate governance are needed, others think this is just a phase. Like my obsession with sourdough bread. 🍞

“If the Korean market rebounds, they’ll return just as quickly,” said Roh Geun-chang of Hyundai Motor Securities. We’ll see about that, won’t we? 🤔

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2025-04-13 14:14