Shinhan Investment Securities said on Tuesday that investing by minors starts with mobile-based, non-face-to-face account openings and leads to long-term, diversified investing centred on ETFs.

The firm said the number of minor accounts opened in the first quarter of 2026 rose 272 percent from a year earlier. In particular, 58.4 percent of accounts were opened non-face-to-face, confirming that account openings are shifting toward mobile.

The average balance per minor account was about 10 million won. It said children’s accounts are being used as a means of mid- to long-term asset management and financial education.

In the domestic market, the most traded stock by minor clients was Samsung Electronics common shares. It was followed by the TIGER US S&P500 ETF, Samsung Electronics preferred shares, SK Hynix and the KODEX 200 ETF, with many large blue-chip stocks and index-tracking ETFs ranking near the top, showing a preference for investing in representative market assets.

In overseas stock trading, global representative companies such as Tesla, Apple and Nvidia were included, along with many U.S. index ETFs such as Invesco QQQ Trust, the SPDR S&P500 ETF and the Vanguard S&P500 ETF.

By contrast, parent clients had a relatively higher share of trading centred on individual global big tech stocks such as Nvidia, Tesla, Apple and Microsoft, highlighting that minor accounts adopt a diversified investment structure across indices.

By product, minors’ accounts showed investment experience in domestic stocks at about 52 percent, overseas stocks at about 17 percent, followed by other financial products. In overseas investing, the share of indirect investment through ETFs was relatively higher than direct investment in individual stocks.

Overall, minor accounts did not trade frequently, but showed a pronounced long-term, education-oriented investment tendency of holding large-cap stocks and ETFs for a certain period.

A Shinhan Investment Securities official said the share of non-face-to-face openings for minor accounts has expanded further this year, making mobile the starting point for children’s finance. The official added the firm plans to continue expanding financial education content for parents and children and global diversified investment services.