A study has found that the wealthy, who constitute 0.9% of the population in our country, hold approximately 60% of total household financial assets. They responded that they expect high returns from stocks in the short term and residential dwellings in the medium to long term.
According to the '2024 Report on Korean Rich' published by KB Financial Group's Management Research Institute on the 22nd, the number of 'wealthy' individuals with financial assets of 1 billion won or more at the end of last year is estimated to be 461,000, or 0.9% of the total population. The number of wealthy individuals increased by 1.0% compared to 2022, but the growth rate was the lowest since the count began in 2011.
The institute noted in the report that 'it is a time for monitoring whether the number of wealthy individuals in Korea is stagnating or decreasing due to the decline in the total population and economically active population.'
The total financial assets of these wealthy individuals amounted to 2,826 trillion won, an increase of 2.9% compared to the previous year. This represents 58.6% of the total financial assets of Korean households, which are valued at 4,822 trillion won. Among them, high-net-worth individuals holding financial assets between 1 billion won and 3 billion won numbered 29,000 (6.3%), while 'ultra-high-net-worth individuals' exceeding 3 billion won reached 11,000 (2.2%).
According to interview surveys of 400 wealthy individuals conducted from July to September this year, they invested more than 90% of their assets in real estate and financial assets. Real estate accounted for more than half at 55.4%, while financial assets were tallied at 38.9%. The proportion for real estate decreased compared to 56.2% in 2023 due to price declines caused by rising interest rates.
In terms of financial investment inclination, a high-risk, high-return tendency was prominent. The combined total of 'active investment type' and 'aggressive investment type' this year was 20.1%, which increased by 0.1 percentage point compared to the previous year. Conversely, the combined total of 'stable' and 'stability-seeking type' decreased sharply from 51.6% to 44.3%. This indicates that the stability-oriented investment tendency among the wealthy has weakened over the past year.
Regarding financial investment performance over the past year, the percentage of respondents who said they 'made a profit' reached 32.3%, which is 11.9 percentage points higher than last year (20.3%). The institute estimated that this could be related to the active profit realization atmosphere in early this year following the steep rise in the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the end of last year. Conversely, the proportion of those who said they 'suffered a loss' decreased from 16.3% to 8.6%.
The experience rate of revenue by type of financial investment product was highest for stocks (32.5%), followed by funds (9.0%), redeemable life insurance (7.3%), and bonds (6.5%). Wealthy individuals investing in stocks averaged investments in 6.1 domestic stocks and 4.2 foreign stocks.
Among wealthy individuals, 35.5% identified stocks as the most expected short-term high-revenue investment target within the next year. Gold and jewelry (33.5%), residential dwellings (32.5%), secondary residential dwellings (31.3%), and buildings and commercial properties (21.3%) followed. In terms of promising investment destinations with high expected revenue in the medium to long term over 3 to 5 years, residential dwellings (35.8%), stocks (35.5%), secondary residential dwellings (32.3%), and gold and jewelry (30.3%) were cited.
Among the wealthy, 60.8% had received inheritances or gifts in cash and savings (multiple responses 53.9%), residential real estate (44.0%), and secondary residential real estate (35.4%). Additionally, 24.5% reported having already given cash and savings (54.6%) and residential real estate (48.5%) to their spouse or children.
Among these individuals, 75.5% had been investing in overseas assets for 'more than 3 years'. The preferred overseas investment products were overseas stocks (47.5%), foreign currency savings and deposits, insurance, and funds (37.3%), and overseas bonds (12.3%).
In the section on 'Outlook for Alternative Investment Assets Among Korean Wealthy,' 83.2% of the wealthy in Korea responded that they have experience in investing in alternative assets. The top preferred alternative asset was 'gold and jewelry', which showed overwhelming investment experience (77.8%) and the highest future investment intention (38.0%).
In addition, art was the top reason for investment intention, gaining interest as the best current investment destination, while virtual assets were highly regarded for their potential as digital gold. Among those with investment intentions in unlisted stocks, 'tax benefits' (55.0%) were cited as the primary reason for investment.