Shares appeal to young Fijians

MORE young, working Fijians are heading to the stock market to invest in shares of listed companies.

In its 2023 Stock Market Review released this week, the South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPX) said of the total of 161 new investors that entered the Fijian stock market in 2023, most were between the age range of 36 to 55 years followed by investors between the age range of 26 years and 35 years.

“With majority of Fiji’s population below 40 years, this is a welcome trend as more young people are now considering the long-term benefits of investing in shares and are using shares as part of their investment portfolio to meet their future financial needs,” SPX stated.

“A positive trend noted is that 55.70 per cent of the new investors recorded were below the age of 35 years.

“Furthermore, it became evident during the previous year that new investors below the age of 18 years now make up a notable amount of the statistics towards new investors, compared to their historical percentage of less than per cent.”

SPX noted that in terms of new investor preference, majority of the new investors bought into Fijian Holdings Ltd (FHL) shares followed by Kontiki Finance Ltd (KFL), Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Ltd (ATH), FijiCare Insurance Limited (FIL) and RB Patel Group Ltd (RBG).

A total of 423 transactions were attributed to the new group, translating to the movement of over 1.2 million shares valued at a total of around $1.7m.

Further analysis revealed that a majority of these new investors work in the private sector and live in the central/eastern division.

“However, it is encouraging to see new investors emerging from the western and northern divisions,” SPX noted.

“Additionally, new non-resident investors were also noted in 2023.”

The stock exchange urged those interested in share investments to get contact them via phone, email or Facebook messages.

“Our team will surely assist you in starting with your investment journey.”