Which age group gains most in Kospi rally? Not who you’d expect.

Customers wait for services at a brokerage branch in Seoul on January 26. [YONHAP]

 
It’s been 15 years since Shin, a 65-year-old Seoul resident, began investing in stocks. Her journey started with a casual conversation with a friend’s son regarding the stability of Samyung Trading.

Since then, she has developed a keen eye for the market by carefully researching sectors that pique her interest, investigating the mindsets of company owners and paying attention to companies her friends and acquaintances work for when selecting investments.

While her access to information and speed of execution may not match that of the tech-savvy younger generation, she takes pride in her careful and long-term approach, holding investments for nearly 15 years. 
 
“I prioritize stability over quick trades, which makes me lean toward long-term investments,” she said — a strategy that has earned her a remarkable profit rate of more than 1,800 percent for Sillajen after holding the bio firm for six years, since before it was listed.
 

Younger investors, armed with instant access to information and quick analytical skills and with trading apps always at their fingertips, are often expected to lead the market in returns. But the data tell a different story: Investors in their 60s and 70s significantly outperformed their younger counterparts last year.

From Jan. 1 last year to Jan. 19 this year, men aged 70 and older generated an average return of 60.94 percent, and women in that same age group posted 55.83 percent, according to data from Mirae Asset Securities. This was followed by women and men in their 60s, who logged 50.67 percent and 49.52 percent, respectively. These figures far exceed the low-30 percent range of investors in their 20s and 30s.

Mirae Asset Securities compiled data from 2.4 million investors who invested more than 1 million won ($690), excluding exchange-traded fund (ETF) purchases.

“Since younger investors are still in the process of building their assets, they tend to trade more frequently,” said Kim Hyun-ku, a spokesperson for Mira Asset Securities. “Older investors, on the other hand, generally have a certain level of wealth and tend to hold onto high-performing stocks for longer periods, which is thought to contribute to their higher returns.”

The trend was also evident among investors at Kiwoom Securities. 

Stock buyers in their 60s recorded the highest stock returns, posting an average of 45.7 percent from Jan. 1 last year through the end of last month, followed closely by investors in their 50s and 20s, who each posted returns of 45.6 percent. The favorite pick for those in their 50s and 60s was Hyundai Motor, while the top pick for those in their 20s to 40s was SK hynix.

Kiwoom Securities reviewed data from investors who purchased more than 100,000 won. The numbers were based on domestic stocks and excluded ETF purchases.
 

Electronic display board shows the Kospi breaking 5,600 points at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul on Feb. 19. [WOO SANG-JO]

“Judging by the fact that Hyundai Motor was the most frequently picked stock last year, it’s likely that many investors have held it for a long time as a traditional large-cap stock,” said Hong Dong-hee, a senior investment strategist at Standard Chartered Bank Korea. 

“With [Hyundai Motor’s] recent surge driven by trends such as physical AI, returns appear to have been especially high,” he said, adding that older investors, unlike younger ones, tend to favor large-cap stocks and avoid excessive risks, including leverage, due to concerns over postretirement spending.

Hyundai Motor’s stock surged 77 percent last month alone, fueled by investor optimism over the life-size Atlas humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics, the robotics company owned by Hyundai, shifting the perception of the company from a conventional automaker to a robotics-driven firm.

Older investors’ tendency to avoid risk is reflected in recent data obtained by Rep. Lee Jong-mun of the Democratic Party from the Korea Financial Investment Association, which shows that those in their 40s comprised the largest share of individuals who, in 2025, completed the training required to purchase leveraged exchange-traded products, or ETPs, at 26.86 percent.

Investors in their 30s followed, accounting for 26.75 percent. In contrast, those in their 60s represented only 8 percent, and investors in their 70s made up just 1 percent.

“Even the most brilliant analysts don’t seem to constantly make money,” wrote a high school English teacher with 30 years of experience on a personal social media page, noting that she had gifted an apartment in the upscale Banpo-dong neighborhood of Seocho District, southern Seoul, to her son with the money she earned from stock investing. 
 
“Most people working at securities firms actually end up in the red. I guess [stock investment] is an area that requires a harmony of urgency and patience,” she added. 


BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]