This paper uses custodian bank statistics to analyse the composition and riskiness of Italian households' portfolios by amount class. Although the original data refer to the amount held in custody at a single bank and not to the entire portfolio of a household, they allow us to develop timely indicators of financial wealth inequality. The analysis considers households' holdings of debt securities, listed shares and mutual fund shares between 2012 and 2023.
Households with smaller portfolios are mostly oriented towards mutual fund shares, whereas the richest ones invest more in listed shares and obtain higher percentage capital gains than the other households, also considering the differences in portfolio riskiness. Financial wealth inequality, which can be assessed using these statistics, increased between 2012 and 2021 and decreased thereafter.
