This year, the total net worth of South Korea's exchange-traded fund (ETF) market surpassed 173 trillion won, with the number of listed items exceeding 930. The U.S. stock market has seen a strong rise throughout the year, contributing to rapid growth in the size of overseas ETFs. Revenue leaders were dominated by the U.S. and U.S. tech-related products.
According to the Korea Exchange's "2024 ETF and ETN Market Settlement of Account and Key Characteristics Analysis" report released on the 30th, the total net worth of the domestic ETF market at the end of this year is estimated to be 173.2 trillion won, a 43.0% increase from the end of 2023 (121.1 trillion won). The total net worth, which was 45.8 trillion won in 2018, has quadrupled in six years.
The increase in total net worth was especially notable in overseas ETFs. Domestic ETFs recorded a 14.2% increase to 105.9 trillion won, while overseas ETFs grew by 137.1% to 67.2 trillion won. The exchange noted that "in the case of domestic ETFs, the expansion of uncertainty has led to prominent inflows into parking-type ETFs (interest rate and short-term bond ETFs)."
The average revenue rate for ETFs was recorded at 6.8%. The top-performing products were dominated by ACE U.S. Big Tech TOP 7 Plus Leveraged (revenue rate 201.6%), PLUS U.S. Tech TOP 10 Leveraged (180.5%), and KODEX U.S. Stock Market Investors (103.3%), all of which are leveraged products related to the U.S. tech sector or U.S. market representative indices.
The number of ETF items, which was 468 in 2020, has doubled to 935 by the end of this year. This year, 174 new items were listed, of which 126 are stock-type ETFs. Among these, 66 are thematic ETFs related to artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. This year, 51 items were delisted, the highest number since the market's establishment.
The average daily transaction amount in the ETF market this year reached 35 trillion won, an 8.6% increase from the previous year. This also corresponds to 32.4% of the market of listed securities. The proportion of individual transactions decreased to 32.9% from 45.3% the previous year, while the transaction share of institutions and foreign investors increased.
Additionally, the exchange noted that the increase in the number of listed ETFs and changes in market trends have led to a rise in voluntary delistings of small-scale ETFs by issuers. According to the exchange, the delistings of small-scale ETFs were 29 cases in 2020, but this year they increased to 51.
Meanwhile, the total indicator value of the exchange-traded note (ETN) market this year reached 16.8 trillion won, a 21.7% increase from the end of last year, with the total number of listed items increasing by 37 to 412. The average daily transaction amount for ETNs was recorded at 120.9 billion won, a 23.9% decrease from the previous year, affected by a decline in transactions in the underlying asset market.