Pawnt Approaches 260,000 Members... "100x Growth Since App Launch"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] AI investment specialist company Fount announced on the 24th that its mobile app's membership has increased from about 2,600 to 260,000 over three years since its launch, growing more than 100 times. Assets under management also surged 6.4 times from 135.9 billion KRW at the end of 2018 to 870 billion KRW in June 2021, achieving rapid growth.

The investor demographics have also changed noticeably over the past three years. In 2018, the gender ratio was overwhelmingly male at 79.2% compared to 20.8% female, but by June 2021, the male ratio dropped to 69.6%, while the female ratio increased by 10 percentage points to 30.4%.

Regarding age groups, in 2018, those in their 30s accounted for the largest share at 27.3%, but by 2021, the 20s age group increased by 29.5 percentage points compared to 2018, reaching 39.5%, becoming the largest segment.

Investor risk profiles also shifted. At the app’s launch in 2018, growth-oriented investors made up 59.0%, aggressive 29.8%, neutral 9.8%, and conservative 0.4%, indicating a strong preference for higher risk. Currently, the distribution is more balanced with aggressive at 22.1%, neutral at 22.8%, and conservative at 15.4%. The conservative investor segment increased by nearly 40%, suggesting that the app has become an alternative investment option for novice investors hesitant to invest directly due to fear of losses.

Returns varied significantly by investment duration. It was found that 100% of investors with over two years of investment and 98.3% of those with over one year generated profits. Notably, investors with over three years had the highest average cumulative return of 24.26%. Those investing between two and three years had 19.09%, between one and two years 11.92%, between six months and one year 5.11%, and under six months 1.06% average cumulative returns.

Regarding investment types, installment investments with fixed monthly contributions accounted for 74%, far surpassing lump-sum investments. The 70s and 40s age groups had the highest average annual additional contributions with over nine times, followed by 50s at 8.6 times, 30s at 7.8 times, 20s at 6.5 times, and 60s at 6.3 times, indicating installment investing is practiced across all age groups. Particularly, the days investors most frequently make additional contributions are the 26th of each month, the day after payday, and Mondays, the start of the week.

Kim Youngbin, CEO of Fount, said, “In the early stages of the business, we focused on B2B to prove our invisible technology and entered the consumer market later than others, but it seems investors have started to recognize our sincerity.” He added, “Even if people don’t know about investing or don’t have much money, we will strive to provide an equal and advanced AI investment solution to everyone.”