(Bloomberg) — South Korean retail investors boosted their holdings of US stocks to more than $100 billion for the first time amid growing interest in Big Tech shares and leveraged funds.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Mom-and-pop traders held a combined $101.4 billion worth of US equities as of Nov. 7, according to Korea Securities Depository data. That’s a 64% jump from the whole of last year.
More individual traders are investing directly in US shares in search of better yields as a slide in Korea’s Kospi Index made it among the world’s worst performers this year. On the other hand, they’ve sold 4.4 trillion won ($3.2 billion) worth of equities in the benchmark gauge on a net basis so far in 2024 despite efforts by authorities to revive the local stock market by enhancing corporate practices.
Assets in volatile sectors such as cryptocurrencies and tech shares were among their top bets. The most popular stock among Korean investors was Tesla Inc., with individuals holding a combined $16.7 billion as of last week, according to the depository data. Traders also held $13.8 billion of Nvidia Corp. shares, $4.6 billion in Apple Inc. shares and a $3.6 billion stake in Microsoft Corp.
Read: Musk’s Korean Fans Hope to Get Rich With $15 Billion Tesla Stake
Leveraged exchange-traded funds that tracked US tech stocks were also in high demand. Among those on the list of their six biggest holdings include an ETF seeking three times the daily gains of the Nasdaq 100 Index, and another fund that aims to deliver three times the daily gains on US chip stocks.
–With assistance from Hooyeon Kim.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
