The Philippine Stock Exchange is expanding its presence in the Visayas and Mindanao to boost its investor base after a study showed most of its investors are based in Metro Manila.
"We are cognizant of the challenges that continue to face the PSE in broadening its investor base. On this score, we have pushed for the expansion of our presence in Visayas and Mindanao," said PSE president Hans Sicat.
Sicat said the PSE has established a satellite office in Cebu last year, and hopefully another one in Cagayan de Oro to be opened later this year.
"We are also introducing new services to promote online trading to trading participants which should further boost retail participation," Sicat said.
The PSE study showed that most local retail investors were based in Metro Manila accounting for 76.8 percent while 13.0 percent of retail investors were based in Luzon (excluding Metro Manila).
Local retail investors from Visayas and Mindanao represented 6.1 percent and 2.3 percent of total retail accounts, respectively. Overseas local investors comprised a collective 1.9 percent of local retail accounts.
Of the total foreign retail investors, 37.2 percent were of Chinese descent. Investors from other countries and American investors comprised 22.1 percent, and 20.0 percent, respectively. Meanwhile Europeans, Taiwanese, Koreans, and Singaporeans accounted for 8.3 percent, 4.3 percent, 4.1 percent, and 3.2 percent, respectively.
The PSE study also showed that, based on the profile of retail investors in the Philippines, male investors accounted for 58.5 percent of total investors in 2011 while 41.5 percent are female.
Individuals earning less than P500,000 annually accounted for the biggest share at 37.4 percent of retail investors.
Meanwhile, investors who earn more than P1 million every year covered more than one-third of retail investors and the remaining 28.1 percent earn between P500,000 to P1,000,000 per year.
Investors earning more than P1 million annually were the most active traders.
Of the total retail investors, 71.4 percent were between the ages of 30 to 59. Investors aged 60 years and above comprised 18.5 percent of retail accounts while the remaining 10.1 percent belonged to retail investors between ages of 18 to 29 years.
Most retail investors were engaged in the services sector and were professionals, which comprised 30.4 percent and 24.7 percent of retail accounts, respectively. Meanwhile, self-employed individuals accounted for 19.4 percent of retail accounts.
