Despite the surge in the exchange rate and the KOSPI index, the amount of U.S. stocks held by Korean retail investors trading U.S. stocks surpassed 250 trillion won.
According to Korea Securities Depository (KSD) on the 20th, as of the 15th, the amount of U.S. stocks held stood at $170.5 billion (about 251.2448 trillion won).
As of the end of last year, domestic investors' U.S. stock holdings were $163.6 billion (about 241.1 trillion won), which means they increased by $6.9 billion (about 10.1699 trillion won) in about two weeks.
Although the won-dollar exchange rate, which briefly stabilized in mid-December last year, rose back to the 1,470-won level at the start of the year, domestic investors are still seen buying U.S. stocks.
U.S. stock holdings have increased every year since 2022, according to analyses. The holdings, which were $44.2 billion (about 65.1887 trillion won) at the end of 2022, grew to $68.0 billion (about 100.2462 trillion won) the following year, then surged in 2024.
As of the end of 2024, U.S. stock holdings were $112.1 billion (about 165.2588 trillion won), nearly doubling in dollar terms in one year.
Meanwhile, technology stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETF) ranked high among U.S. stock holdings. Tesla topped the list at $27.6 billion. It was followed by Nvidia ($17.9 billion), Alphabet ($7.2 billion), Palantir ($6.5 billion), and Apple ($4.3 billion), taking second to fifth place.
In addition, ETFs such as "INVESCOQQQTRUSTSRS1" ($3.9 billion), which tracks the Nasdaq 100 index, "VANGUARDSP500ETFSPLR" ($3.7 billion), which tracks the S&P 500 index, and "PROSHARESULTRAPROQQQ" ($3.4 billion), which tracks the Nasdaq 100 at three times leverage, are also among the top holdings. Among these, "PROSHARESULTRAPROQQQ" is a high-risk, high-leverage product that is not offered domestically.
As investment in the U.S. stock market remains strong, the financial authorities are considering ways to draw Korean retail investors trading U.S. stocks into the domestic market. Recently, they are said to be reviewing the introduction of "leverage" products that track several times a single stock or index's return into the domestic market as well. Until now, Korea has limited the multiple for leverage and inverse products to two times.
In addition, at the end of last year, the authorities announced a plan under which if investors sell their overseas stocks and then invest the funds in domestic stocks for one year through a "return-to-domestic-market account" (RIA), the 20% capital gains tax on overseas stocks would be temporarily waived for one year.