As the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices rebounded, the joke that 'escaping the Director General (Korean stock market) is intelligent' changed to 'returning to the Director General is intelligent,' but in the first half of this year, the most purchased stock by ultra-high-net-worth individuals remained Tesla (TSLA).
According to Samsung Securities on the 17th, high-net-worth individuals holding more than 3 billion won in their Samsung Securities accounts bought 831.4 billion won worth of Tesla in the first half of this year (January to June). This was the largest amount across domestic and overseas stocks. Last year's second half (July to December), Tesla was also the 'most preferred' stock, with high-net-worth individuals purchasing about 914.9 billion won.
The Tesla stock price reached an all-time high of $488.5399 in December last year, but faced difficulties, falling to $214.25 in April this year. However, high-net-worth individuals saw it as a buying opportunity.
Following Tesla, the most purchased overseas stock by high-net-worth individuals was Palantir Technologies (PLTR). They bought 415.3 billion won worth in the first half, pushing Nvidia aside to claim the second position. Similar to Tesla, as Palantir's stock price declined from $125.41 in February to $66.12 in April, it is interpreted that many high-net-worth individuals seized the opportunity to buy.
Palantir provides a software platform for analyzing big data. Its technology is being utilized to comprehensively analyze information collected through satellites and drones in the Russia-Ukraine war. Its offerings, encompassing the hottest themes in the stock market, 'artificial intelligence (AI)' and 'defense industry,' have attracted attention, leading to a steep rise in its stock price.
High-net-worth individuals were also active in investing in leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Funds such as 'NVDL,' which tracks Nvidia's daily stock price increase at twice the rate, and 'TQQQ,' which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index's daily increase at three times the rate, made it to the list of top purchases.
On the other hand, 'TLT,' which invests in U.S. government bonds with maturities of 20 years or more, slipped from third place in the purchase volume in the latter half of last year to eighth place in the first half of this year. Concerns about the U.S. government's fiscal deficit have persisted, leading to a decline in prices (and an increase in interest rates) for long-term bonds.
In the first half of this year, high-net-worth individuals purchased Samsung Electronics the most among domestic stocks. They were followed by Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility, and SK hynix. This indicates an expanded share of sectors considered leading in the domestic stock market, such as 'shipbuilding-defense-nuclear power'.
In the second half of this year, the tendency to focus again on American stocks is likely to strengthen. Since July, while the KOSPI index has shown a stagnant trend around the 3200 level, the U.S. Nasdaq index and the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index have reached record highs.
According to the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), domestic investors net sold U.S. stocks worth $1.311 billion and $232 million in May and June, respectively, but returned to a net buying position in July.