Korean retail investors continue to be active purchasers of overseas listed ETFs in March

Press Release

LONDON — May 2, 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 March, 30 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 up by 5 from 25 in February 2025, it is up by 8 from 22 in January 2025, and it is up by 4 from 26 in December 2024. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted)

Highlights

  • 30 of the top 50 overseas securities purchased by Korean retail investors were ETFs listed in the United States
  • Nineteen of the thirty ETFs on the top 50 list provide leverage or inverse exposure.
  • The largest purchase was US$1.98 billion of DIREXION DAILY SEMICONDUCTORS BULL 3X SHS ETF listed in the United States.

 

                                 Top 10 overseas ETF purchased in March

ETF Name

Purchase Amount in USD

DIREXION DAILY SEMICONDUCTORS BULL 3X SHS ETF

 1,979,016,311

DIREXION DAILY TSLA BULL 2X SHARES

 1,756,540,463

PROSHARES ULTRAPRO QQQ ETF

 1,028,430,198

GRANITESHARES 2.0X LONG NVDA DAILY ETF

 662,872,986

SPDR SP 500 ETF TRUST

 494,168,686

ISHARES 0-3 MONTH TREASURY BOND ETF

 418,082,816

PROSHARES TRUST ULTRAPRO SHORT QQQ NEW 2022

 355,359,271

T-Rex 2X Long MSTR Daily Target ETF

 328,538,358

DIREXION SEMICONDUCTOR BEAR 3X ETF

 325,228,843

SCHWAB US DIVIDEND EQUITY ETF

 258,419,693

    Source, Korea Securities Depository.

The ETF industry in South Korea has 1,350 ETFs, with assets of $137.70 Bn, from 38 providers listed on the Korea Exchange at the end of March 2025. According to data from ETFGI, 24.22 percent of the ETFs provide leverage or inverse exposure which account for 8.19% of the assets in the ETFs industry in South Korea.

 

Asset Growth in South Korean ETFs industry as of the end of March

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