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Shareholder statistics, June 2020

Share wealth declined after a turbulent spring on the stock market

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden and Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority 2020-09-03 9.30

In the first half of 2020, share wealth in shares listed on Swedish marketplaces decreased by SEK 365 billion. At the end of June 2020, share wealth amounted to SEK 7 868 billion.

There were major fluctuations in the stock market in the first half of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the same period, the stock market fell by 4.9 percent, according to the OMX Affärsvärlden general index. The total value of listed shares on Swedish marketplaces, including unlisted series for the same companies, fell by 4.4 percent. Total share wealth amounted to SEK 7 868 billion at the end of June 2020.

There were 889 listed companies on Swedish marketplaces at the end of June, which is unchanged from the end of 2019.

OMX Affärsvärlden general index

Graph: OMX Affärsvärlden general index

Foreign holdings increased

Historically, shifts in shareholder structure on Swedish marketplaces have been minor. In the first six months of 2020, non-financial corporations decreased holdings by 1 percentage point on Swedish marketplaces, after an increase in holdings over the last 18 months.

Social security funds, households and the foreign owners sectors increased their market shares in the first half of 2020. The foreign owners sector, which noted the largest increase in holdings, rose by 0.8 percentage points. The foreign owners sector remained the largest owner sector, followed by the financial corporations sector. These two sectors held 40 percent and 29 percent respectively of shares listed on Swedish marketplaces.

Shareholder structure at the end of June 2020, percent

Graph: Shareholder structure at the end of June 2020, percent

United States accounted for just over one-third of foreign holdings

As in previous periods, there were major differences in the foreign owners sector between countries’ shareholdings on Swedish marketplaces. The three largest owner countries in the foreign owners sector were the United States, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. At the end of June 2020, the United States remained the largest owner country, and accounted for 34 percent of the foreign owners sector holdings, which corresponds to 13 percent of total share wealth on Swedish marketplaces. At the end of the period, the United Kingdom held 21 percent, while the third largest country in the foreign owners sector, Luxembourg, accounted for 11 percent of holdings in this sector.

Households’ share wealth decreased

Household sector shareholdings on Swedish marketplaces amounted to SEK 956 billion at the end of June 2020, which is a decrease of SEK 18 billion during the first six months of the year.

The number of shareholders of Swedish listed shares among Swedish households increased by 3 percent. The proportion of shareholders in the total population also increased in the first half of 2020 by 0.3 percentage points, which is the first increase since mid-2016. This means that at least 10.7 percent of the Swedish population held at least one Swedish-listed share. Although the proportion of shareholders increased mainly in the age group 25-44 years, in a longer perspective, this proportion has been dropping steadily. Twenty years ago, one-fifth of the population held listed shares.

Since the end of 2018, the value of the average share portfolio has increased in all age groups. The value of the average share portfolio in the income group with the highest income, SEK 1 million or more, has increased by 34 percent since the end of 2018. This has led to an increase of 3 percentage points in their proportion of shares on Swedish marketplaces compared with the end of 2018. At the end of June 2020, the market share for shareholders with an income of at least SEK 1 million in the household sector amounted to 58.1 percent. In other income groups, the corresponding total portfolio development amounted to 10 percent. The proportion for these income groups has therefore dropped or remained unchanged.

Major differences in investments between the sexes

As in previous periods, there was a significant difference between men and women with regard to listed share ownership. In Large Cap, women held one-third and men held two-thirds in the household sector, which largely reflected ownership distribution between the sexes overall. The largest difference between the sexes was noted in the NGM Main Regulated Market marketplace; men held just under nine-tenth and women held just over one-tenth in the household sector.

At the end of June 2020, households’ media portfolio was SEK 41 000, which was SEK 2 000 less than at the end of 2019. For women, the median portfolio was SEK 34 000, while the corresponding figure for men was SEK 47 000.

Households’ ownership in shares, by sex and marketplace, percent

Graph: Households’ ownership in shares, by sex and marketplace, percent

Definitions and explanations

Information on the final owner is not available concerning ownership in security accounts via Swedish nominees if holdings are less than 501 shares in an enterprise, which means that these holdings are not included in a breakdown of households’ income and age. Information on foreign nominees’ final owners is not available, as these are not included in the public shareholders’ register. At the end of June 2020, households’ ownership in shares registered in security accounts amounted to 13 percent of total assets in shares.

Swedish marketplaces refer to OMX Stockholm, Spotlight Stock Market, NGM, and First North. Unlisted classes of shares in listed companies are also included. Shares in foreign companies listed on the marketplaces mentioned above are included in the statistics from 2000 onwards.

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Statistical Database

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Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority

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Statistics Sweden, Financial and Sector Accounts

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