Russians' assets in brokerage accounts exceeded 9 trillion rubles

The amount of money held in Russian brokerage accounts surpassed 9 trillion rubles.

Shares remain the most popular asset for investment.

It is thought that stock assets can provide protection in times of high inflation expectations.

The amount of brokerage accounts held by individuals rose to 35.5 million.

87% of accounts still remain empty, however.

At the end of the third quarter, the number of brokerage accounts of individuals rose to 35.5 million, a 7% increase over the quarter and a 30% increase over the year, according to the Bank of Russia's "Review of Key Indicators of Brokers" for the third quarter, reported by RBC.

At the end of the third quarter, the total value of individuals' assets in brokerage services increased by 48%, reaching 9.1 trillion rubles (approximately $100 billion). Of this amount, 8.4 trillion rubles were invested in securities.

Individuals deposited RUB 329 billion into their brokerage accounts during the quarter, an increase of 91 billion from the previous quarter's total of 238 billion.

The Central Bank has observed an increasing interest in the stock market among citizens. Investors view stocks as a safe investment in a climate of increasing wages and high inflation expectations.

In the third quarter, 87% of individuals had either empty accounts or accounts with assets of up to 10 thousand rubles, despite the large number of open accounts.

The average account size of individuals rose during the quarter from 241 thousand rubles to 255 thousand, and when excluding empty and small accounts, it went up from 1.8 million rubles to 1.9 million.

Capital Lab has observed that funds in brokerage accounts are gradually returning to their pre-crisis levels. Despite this, a large portion of the assets are still concentrated in the hands of a few qualified investors, with 2% of them owning more than 70% of the total assets.