Korea's ultra-high-net-worth individuals put forward "K.O.R.E.A" as the core investment keyword for 2026. It signals a bet on a re-rating and growth of the domestic stock market.
K.O.R.E.A stands for ▲ preference for Korean stocks (K-stock) ▲ outperformance of the Korea and KOSDAQ markets versus global peers (Outperform) ▲ rebalancing into equity assets (Rebalancing) ▲ use of ETFs (ETF) ▲ an AI-led market (AI).
On Jan. 4, Samsung Securities announced the results of its survey, "2026 stock market outlook and investment plans," conducted on 401 clients of its ultra-high-net-worth service brand SNI. SNI is a wealth management service for clients with 3 billion won or more in deposited financial assets.
Ultra-high-net-worth individuals expected the Korea stock market to continue its upward trend. Responses projecting the KOSPI to break through 4,500 points by year-end came to 45.9%, and those expecting a 5,000-point breakthrough also reached 32.1%.
They especially projected that the KOSDAQ market's rally would outpace the KOSPI. Among the two markets, respondents expecting a higher rate of increase chose KOSDAQ at more than twice the rate of KOSPI. For the KOSDAQ index, views favoring a breakthrough of 1,000 points (59.6%) and 1,100 points (29.3%) were dominant.
From a global perspective, optimism about the Korea stock market stood out. When asked which country looks promising when expanding equity assets, 54.3% chose Korea, far ahead of the United States at 32.9%. The results reflect expectations that, moving away from the previous tilt toward the U.S. stock market, Korea's market will outperform the global market.
Based on this optimism, many also said they would sharply increase their equity allocation. In total, 57.9% said they would invest 80% or more of their assets in stocks, and 67.1% said they plan to expand their equity assets this year.
They picked artificial intelligence (AI) as the leading sector. The response choosing "continued growth of the AI industry" as the most important market theme in 2026 was the largest at 48.1%. The most promising investment industry was also AI and semiconductors (31.8%), followed by robots (18.0%), pharmaceuticals, bio and healthcare (14.8%), financials and other high-dividend stocks (12.3%), and shipbuilding, defense and nuclear power (10.4%).
As for investment method, the most responses, at 49.1%, favored using exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs). This outpaced responses preferring direct investment in individual stocks (37.9%), indicating a strengthening preference for indirect investments that track overall market or specific sector growth.
Meanwhile, when asked which single stock they would choose if they could invest in only one, Samsung Electronics ranked first at 18.2%. Tesla, a global bellwether, followed at 14.1%, with SK hynix at 8.6%.