South Korean individual investors net bought nearly 70 trillion won of ETFs within the year, continuously adding more during the market pullback

Deep Tide TechFlow message. On July 26, according to South Korean media outlet YNA, data from the Korea Exchange (KRX) and financial information provider Yonhap Infomax show that, as of July 24, South Korean retail investors’ cumulative net purchases of ETFs this year totaled 69.5 trillion won, accounting for 63.2% of the net buying amount in the KOSPI market for the same period of 109.9 trillion won. Despite the recent adjustment phase in the South Korean stock market, retail investors continue to position in the market via ETFs rather than buying individual stocks directly.

Data show that during the KOSPI adjustment period, retail investors cumulatively net sold stocks of about 7.6 trillion won, but during the same period they still net bought ETFs of about 180 billion won. In terms of fund flows, about 2 trillion won flowed into covered call and monthly dividend ETFs over the past month, while funds flowed out of growth-themed ETFs such as semiconductors, space technology, and AI. This reflects a decline in investors’ risk appetite, with a preference for yield ETFs that provide more stable cash flow.