Why are Koreans losing faith in local stocks? 왜 한국인들은 국내 주식에 대한 신뢰를 잃고 있을까?

[김우정]

한국의 개인투자자들이 우리 주식시장을 떠나고 있습니다.

지난 10년간 국내주식시장의 총수익률은 연평균 5%로 미국 13%, 일본 11%에 비해 반 이하입니다.

최근 10년간 국내 상장사의 배당성향도 26%로 미국42% 영국 129% 에 비해 현저히 낮습니다.

관계당국의 국내주식투자를 유도할 수 있는 적극적인 대책이 필요합니다.

Why are Koreans losing faith in local stocks?
왜 한국인들은 국내 주식에 대한 신뢰를 잃어가고 있을까?

By Lee Yeon-woo 이연우 기자
Posted : 2024-06-17 16:26 Updated : 2024-06-17 16:28
Korea Times

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, in this October 2020 photo. Reuters-Yonhap 2020년 10월 뉴욕 증권거래소 밖에 월스트리트 간판이 그려져 있다. 로이터-연합

Low profits and shareholder returns drive Korean investors to overseas markets
낮은 수익으로 한국 투자자들을 해외 시장으로 유도

Kim Jang-Woo, 35, recently lost interest in domestic stocks. He even disposed of almost every stock he had held a few months prior. Reflecting on his five years of investing experience, Kim believes that the Korean market is a difficult place for individual investors to make significant profits.
김장우 씨(35)는 최근 국내 주식에 대한 관심이 떨어졌다. 몇 달 전부터 보유하고 있던 주식을 거의 전량 처분하기도 했다. 5년간의 투자 경험을 돌아보면 한국 시장은 개인 투자자들이 큰 수익을 내기 어려운 곳이라는 게 김 씨의 생각이다.

"Engaging in short-term investments seems like the only way to see profits. I tried to follow the ups and downs for some time, but it's very tiring to do so. I am not trading cryptocurrency. I don't think I have to endure this trend," Kim said. "Those who prefer to invest for the long term, like me, can only struggle here. That's why I am looking at stocks in the U.S."
김씨는 "단기 투자에 참여하는 것만이 수익을 볼 수 있는 유일한 방법인 것 같다며 얼마 전부터 부침을 따라가려 했지만 그렇게 하는 것은 매우 피곤한 일이라며 나는 암호화폐를 거래하는 것이 아니다. 이런 추세를 굳이 견뎌낼 필요는 없을 것 같다,고 말했다. 김씨는 "나처럼 장기 투자를 선호하는 사람들은 여기서 고전할 수밖에 없다며 그래서 미국에서 주식을 보고 있다."고 말했다

Kim said he only wants one crucial — yet difficult — thing: profits. And he has plenty of reasons to blame the Korean stock market for not being fruitful enough.
김씨는 중요하면서도 어려운 일 하나만을 원한다고 말했는데 바로 수익이다. 그리고 그는 한국 증시가 충분히 성과가 없다고 비난할 만한 이유가 많다.

Over the past 10 years, the total returns from the domestic stock market, including dividends, have averaged just 5 percent annually, according to the Korean Corporate Governance Forum. This is almost half the returns achievable in the U.S., which stands at 13 percent, and Japan at 11 percent. Even Taiwan, which experiences similar risks to those of Korea — with them facing China and North Korea respectively, yielded higher returns at about 10 percent.
한국기업지배구조포럼에 따르면 지난 10년간 배당금을 포함한 국내 주식시장의 총 수익률은 연평균 5%에 불과했다. 이는 13%인 미국과 11%인 일본이 달성할 수 있는 수익률의 거의 절반에 해당한다. 대만도 중국과 북한에 각각 직면해 있는 한국과 비슷한 위험을 겪고 있는 10% 정도로 더 높은 수익률을 냈다.

This means that if a person had invested $10,000 10 years ago, it would be worth $16,829 today. In contrast, the same investment in the U.S. stock market would have resulted in $33,946.
10년 전에 사람이 1만 달러를 투자했다면 오늘날 16,829달러의 가치가 있다는 뜻이다. 이에 반해 미국 주식시장에 같은 투자를 했다면 33,946달러의 가치가 있었을 것이다.

A group of individual investors protest the adoption of a financial investment income tax in front of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's office in Seoul, May 30, claiming it will only harm individual investors. The financial investment income tax imposes a 20 percent charge on the total income derived from financial products, including stocks, bonds, funds and derivatives exceeding certain amounts — 50 million won ($36,245) for stocks and 2.5 million won for other financial products. Yonhap 5월 30일 서울 민주당 의원실 앞에서 한 무리의 개인 투자자들이 금융투자소득세의 채택이 개인 투자자들에게 해만 끼칠 것이라고 주장하며 항의하고 있다. 금융 투자 소득세는 일정 금액을 초과하는 주식, 채권, 펀드 및 파생 상품 등 금융 상품에서 파생되는 총 수입에 대해 주식의 경우 5천만원 (36,245달러), 기타 금융 상품의 경우 250만원 이상일   20퍼센트의 세금을 부과한다. 연합

As a result, an increasing number of Koreans are dumping local stocks and grabbing overseas stocks instead.
이에 따라 국내 주식을 투매하고 대신 해외주식을 움켜쥐는 내국인들이 늘고 있다.

This year, individual investors have sold 12.4 trillion won ($8.9 billion) on the benchmark KOSPI, and net purchased 8.5 trillion won in the U.S. stock market as of Friday. Their preferred choices were stocks related to AI and semiconductors, such as Nvidia.
올해 들어 개인투자자들은 코스피에서 12조4000억 원어치를 팔아치웠고 14일 현재 미국 증시에서 8조5000억 원어치를 순매수했다. 이들이 선호하는 종목은 엔비디아 등 인공지능(AI) 및 반도체 관련주였다.

Even in financial products related to the stock market, the trend was prominent.
주식시장 관련 금융상품에서도 그 흐름이 두드러졌다.

As of April, an Individual Savings Account (ISA), a tax-advantaged account for financial products, the proportion of investments in overseas ETFs has surpassed that of domestic ETFs, for the first time since the account's introduction. The figures stood at 19.7 percent, and 7.3 percent, respectively.
금융상품에 대한 세제혜택 계좌인 개인종합저축계좌(ISA)의 4월 기준 해외 ETF 투자 비중이 도입 이후 처음으로 국내 ETF 투자 비중을 넘어섰다. 각각 19.7%, 7.3%였다.

"No one would invest their money in the capital market under the current structure," Mirae Asset Financial Group Executive Adviser Kim Gyung-rok said.
김경록 미래에셋금융지주 전무는 "지금 구조로는 아무도 자본시장에 돈을 투자하지 않을 것,”이라고 말했다.

"If the deposit interest rate is 3 percent, people should be getting at least a 7 percent return. It's not feasible for people to invest if the capital market yields a lower rate than banks. With stock prices plummeting every time there's a missile conflict, people need compensation for the anxiety they feel."
"예금금리가 3%라면 사람들은 적어도 7%의 수익을 얻어야 한다. 자본시장이 은행보다 낮은 수익률을 내면 사람들이 투자하는 것이 불가능합니다. 미사일 분쟁이 일어날 때마다 주가가 폭락하는 상황에서 사람들은 그들이 느끼는 불안감에 대한 보상이 필요하다."

A shareholder asks questions to board members of Samsung Electronics during a regular shareholders meeting at a convention center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, March 20. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics 3월 20일 경기도 수원시 한 컨벤션센터에서 열린 정기 주주총회에서 한 주주가 삼성전자 이사진에게 질문을 하고 있다. 삼성전자 제공

Low shareholder returns add to the problem.
낮은 주주 수익률은 문제를 가중시킨다.

According to the Financial Services Commission, the average dividend payout ratio of domestic listed companies over the past 10 years has been 26 percent. This not only falls behind advanced economies like the U.S. at 42 percent or the U.K. at 129 percent, but also emerging markets such as China at 31 percent and India at 39 percent.
금융위에 따르면 최근 10년간 국내 상장사의 평균 배당성향은 26%다. 이는 미국 42%나 영국 129% 등 선진국은 물론 중국 31%, 인도 39% 등 신흥시장에도 뒤지는 것이다.

Among the 782 KOSPI-listed companies, 24 percent did not pay any dividends from 2020 to 2022.
코스피 상장기업 782개사 중 2020년부터 2022년까지 배당을 전혀 하지 않은 기업은 24%에 달했다.

In April, S&P Global Market Intelligence wrote that the Korean market's current dividend practices lag behind the global standard in various aspects and is one of the hurdles that need to be overcome to achieve the desired outcome of the Corporate Value-up Program. Koreans' preference for overseas stocks has also resulted in unexpected outcomes.
S&P글로벌마켓인텔리전스는 지난 4월 한국시장의 현재 배당관행이 여러 측면에서 글로벌 기준에 뒤떨어져 기업가치 제고 프로그램의 소기의 성과를 달성하기 위해 극복해야 할 장애물 중 하나라고 썼다. 한국인들의 해외주식 선호 현상도 예상치 못한 결과를 낳았다.

The Financial Supervisory Services recently issued an alert on stock recommendations through social media. It turned out that some are exploiting the enthusiasm for overseas stock investment by encouraging others to buy certain stocks while impersonating investment moguls Peter Lynch and Jan Hatzius. Once the buying pressure drives up the stock prices, they sell off their own holdings in large quantities.
금융감독원은 최근 소셜네트워크서비스(SNS)를 통해 종목추천에 대한 주의보를 발령했다. 일부에서는 투자업계 거물인 피터 린치나 얀 하지우스 등을 사칭하면서 특정 종목에 대한 매수를 권유하는 등 해외주식 투자 열기를 악용하고 있는 것으로 드러났다. 일단 매수 압력이 주가를 끌어올리면 이들은 보유주식을 대량으로 팔아치운다.

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