ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETFs ecosystem, reported today that in March, 25 of the top 50 overseas securities purchased by Korean retail investors were ETFs listed in the United States, Japan. The number of ETFs on the list is up by 2 from 23 in February 2024, it remains the same with January 2024 and was down by 1 from 26 in December 2023.

Source, Korea Securities Depository. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted)

Highlights

• Fifteen of the twenty-five ETFs on the top 50 list provide leverage or inverse exposure.
• The largest purchase was US$2.27 billion of the Direxion Daily Semiconductors Bull 3X SHS ETF listed in the United States. 

• Half of the top 50 overseas securities purchased by Korean retail investors in March were ETFs

Top 10 overseas ETF purchased in March 2024

Source, Korea Securities Depository.  

The ETF industry in South Korea has 1,214 products with assets of $115 billion, from 37 providers listed on the Korea Exchange at the end of March 2024. According to data from ETFGI, 26.2 percent of the ETF provide leverage or inverse exposure which account for 11.3% of the assets invested in the ETFs industry in South Korea.

Looking at the global ETFs industry, leverage and inverse ETFs account for 9.72% of the 12,127 products but only US$141.65 Bn of the US$12.71 trillion in assets under management at the end of March 2024.

Asset Growth in South Korean ETF and ETP as of the end of March 2024