Local investors opened over 620,000 new securities accounts in the first half of this year, higher than the combined figure in the 2019-2020 period, with around 393,659 last year.

An investor at a securities company in Hanoi. Photo: The Hanoi Times

This came as a new record of securities account was set in June with 140,193, more than 26,500 compared to the previous month, stated the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) in a recent report.

The VSD noted out of the 140,193 new accounts in June, a lion’s share of 140,054 was from individual investors and 139 from organizations.

According to the VSD, the securities market continue to remain a preferred investment channel for local investors given the current low-interest-rate environment; tightening bond issuance from the corporate sector under government’s decree No.81 that raises standards for corporate bond issuance; Vietnam’s effective control of the pandemic and remains one of the fastest-growing economies in the world; attractive price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios of the Vn-Index compared to regional stock markets; the bright prospect of the market being upgraded to the emerging market status in the next two years; and limited investment options for locals.

Chart: Hai Yen

The strong capital inflows from domestic investors helped offset selling pressure from their foreign peers and took the Vn-Index to over the 1,400-mark for the first time in June with market liquidity of over US$1 billion in the majority of trading sessions in the past months.

During the January-June period, foreign investors net sold nearly VND30 trillion (US$1.3 billion) on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE), almost double the net-sell amount for the whole of 2020.

Overall, the total number of securities accounts in the country is estimated at over 3.39 million, or 3.5% of the population.

Meanwhile, foreign investors opened another 277 securities account in June, 156 less than the previous month, raising the brokerage account number to 772 in the first six months.