Low rates and a pandemic usher new traders into Vietnamese stocks

HO CHI MINH CITY -- The stock market crashed in Vietnam in March 2020, following bourses around the world lower as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. But rather than panic as he watched stock prices fall day after day, Dinh Thanh Cong decided to open a trading account.

Friends told him the cheap shares were a buying opportunity, so Cong became one of nearly 400,000 new stock investors in Vietnam last year. The record increase in amateur investors marks a turning point for the Southeast Asian frontier market, where locals who once poured cash into condos and savings accounts have pivoted to shares.