Vietnam securities accounts exceed 5 million

Securities accounts in Vietnam have exceeded 5 million, with over 230,000 new accounts opened in April, despite the VN-Index’s downturn.

This is the second-highest monthly figure, trailing only March’s number of 270,000 accounts.

Vietnam's stock market closed last month with a total of 5.2 million accounts, of which domestic individual investors accounted for 98.9%, with the remainder coming from domestic corporations, foreign organizations and foreign individuals.

Personal accounts by the end of 2021 accounted for 5.24% of Vietnam’s population, exceeding the government target of 5% set for 2025, the General Statistics Office reported.

However, Vietnam's performance lagged those of other economies. Thailand currently has 5.3 million trading accounts or 8% of the population, while Taiwan has 22 million stock investors, accounting for 93% of the population.

Domestic investors have served as the market’s primary growth engine for more than a year, making for over 80% of the total transaction value, according to securities companies.

Following four consecutive months of net buying, domestic individuals net sold VND4,680 billion ($203 million) in April as the market experienced a corrective. In the opposite direction, domestic and foreign organizations net purchased VND770 billion and VND3,900 billion, respectively.

Dragon Viet Securities noted that individual investors are unlikely to return to the market with a strong buying force in the short term, given the end of the financial reporting season and less positive news in May.

Domestic investors' cash flow has decreased dramatically since the beginning of May, with average liquidity each session hovering around VND15,600 billion, substantially lower than the VND23,000-25,000 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.