According to the U.S. Federal
Reserve, of the 10 percent of families with the highest income, 92 percent
owned stock as of 2013, just above where it had been in 2007. For people in the
bottom half of the income distribution ownership slipped.
As of 2019, the top 10 percent
of Americans owned an average of $969,000 in stocks. The next 40 percent owned
$132,000 on average. For the bottom half of families, it was just under
$54,000.
There has been a 200% rise in
the S&P 500 from 2009 – 2018, meaning that serious wealth has been made by
the wealthiest of Americans. And the top 1 percent of households by wealth
owned nearly 38 percent of all stocks/shares according to research by NYU
economist Edward Wolff.
Stock ownership has fallen to
only around 52% overall since the financial crisis. This is rather unfortunate
since the S&P 500 has been marching to new record highs each year.
So what does this all mean?
The wealth gap continues to increase. Those families in the 90th percentile
have a net worth of almost $1,000,000. Meanwhile, those in the 50th percentile
or below hardly have any net worth at all.
What about Malaysia?
Malaysian investors dominate
the local stock market, holding 80% of total outstanding shares. Institutions
and nominees hold 25% each of total shareholding. Individuals own about 21-22%
of all stocks while Government shareholding is about 9-10%. The balance
(approx. 20%) is held by foreigners, largely through nominees. Data is not
readily available on income levels of retail shareholders and the percentage of
stocks they own. That could be an area for future research.
References:
1. What Percent of Americans Own Stocks?
Financial Samurai https://www.financialsamurai.com)
2. Corporate
Shareholdings and the Liquidity of Malaysian Stocks: Investor Heterogeneity,
Trading Account Types and the Underlying Channels, Kian-Ping Lim and
Tze-Chung Thian and Chee-Wooi Hooy, 25 July 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment