Over 30% of economically active population have brokerage accounts: 2022 results
Last year, retail investors became less interested in the securities market due to the freezing of foreign assets, lower stock indices, and higher deposit rates. Nevertheless, as the market rebounded in 2022 Q4, the assets of professional participants’ clients resumed growth. These findings are presented in the Review of Key Indicators of Professional Securities Market Participants for 2022.
Investments in the securities market are currently made by about a third of the economically active population. Over 2022 alone, brokers’ client base expanded by 36%, driven by newcomers. Brokers’ clients now number 22.9 million. Individuals’ assets total 6 trillion rubles, including 5.3 trillion in securities. There was a rise in the demand for Russian companies’ shares and federal government bonds. The average amount of a brokerage account became two times smaller over the year, decreasing from 409,000 to 205,000 rubles. As before, there is a considerable percentage of investors with zero accounts (66%), while investors holding no more than 10,000 rubles in their accounts make up 21%.
As of the end of the year, trust management recorded a slight rise in the amount of assets, with the number of clients increasing moderately. Trust management clients numbered 848,000 with their portfolio totalling 1.8 trillion rubles, including 1.2 trillion rubles owned by individuals. The average amount of a trust management account remained nearly unchanged, namely 1.5 million rubles. The outflow of clients’ funds from popular long-term strategies of individual investment accounts was offset by the inflow of clients with a high average amount in accounts into short-term strategies. Investors opted for liquid funds of the money market and transferred Russian issuers’ securities from foreign to domestic infrastructure.