Korean retail investors continue to be active purchasers of US listed ETFs in May
Press Release
LONDON — June 20, 2025 — ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm renowned for its expertise in subscription research, consulting services, events, and ETF TV on global ETF industry trends, reported today that in May, 28 of the top 50 overseas securities purchased by Korean retail investors were ETFs listed in the United States. The number of ETFs on the list is down by 4 from 32 in April, it is down by 2 from 30 in March 2025, and it is up by 3 from 25 in February 2025. The ETF purchases in May totaled US$9.9 billion which is down from the US$12.1 billion purchased in April. Source, Korea Securities Depository. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted)
Highlights
- 28 of the top 50 overseas securities purchased by Korean retail investors were ETFs listed in the United States.
- ETF purchases in May totaled US$9.9 billion which is down from the US$12.1 billion purchased in April.
- Nineteen of the twenty-eight ETFs on the top 50 list provide leverage or inverse exposure.
- The largest purchase was US$1.65 billion of DIREXION DAILY SEMICONDUCTORS BULL 3X SHS ETF listed in the United States.
Top 10 overseas ETF purchased in May 2025
|
ETF Name |
Purchase Amount in USD |
|
DIREXION DAILY SEMICONDUCTORS BULL 3X SHS ETF |
1,652,195,617 |
|
DIREXION DAILY TSLA BULL 2X SHARES |
1,551,830,872 |
|
INVESCO QQQ TRUST SRS 1 ETF |
691,131,570 |
|
DIREXION SEMICONDUCTOR BEAR 3X ETF |
661,484,176 |
|
SPDR SP 500 ETF TRUST |
650,536,310 |
|
ISHARES 0-3 MONTH TREASURY BOND ETF |
513,724,955 |
|
PROSHARES ULTRAPRO QQQ ETF |
462,263,294 |
|
PROSHARES TRUST ULTRAPRO SHORT QQQ NEW 2022 |
419,143,353 |
|
DIREXION DAILY 20 YEAR PLUS DRX DLY 20+ YR TREAS BULL 3X SPLR 953438320 US25459W5408 |
336,624,322 |
|
GRANITESHARES 2.0X LONG NVDA DAILY ETF |
312,594,772 |
Trends in the monthly ETF purchase data
|
Dec-24 |
Jan-25 |
Feb-25 |
Mar-25 |
Apr-25 |
May-25 |
|
|
# ETFs purchased |
26 |
22 |
25 |
30 |
32 |
28 |
|
Total amount of purchases (US$ Mn) |
11,773 |
9,992 |
9,366 |
9,942 |
12,076 |
9,904 |
The ETF industry in Korea has 1,369 ETFs, with assets of $156.01 Bn, from 38 providers listed on the Korea Exchange at the end of May. According to data from ETFGI, 23.08 percent of the ETF provide leverage or inverse exposure which account for 7.56% of the assets in the ETF industry in South Korea.
Asset Growth in the ETF industry in Korea at the end of May
Contact deborah.fuhr@etfgi.com if you have any questions or comments on the press release or ETFGI events, research or consulting services.
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