The number of return-to-domestic-market accounts (RIA) has surpassed 240,000 on a cumulative basis. Korean retail investors trading U.S. stocks sold U.S. big tech shares such as Nvidia and bought Samsung Electronics and SK hynix the most through RIA accounts.
The Korea Financial Investment Association said on the 21st that, based on data compiled from the RIAs of 24 domestic securities firms that launched RIAs, the cumulative number of accounts stood at 242,856 and total balances at 194.43 billion won as of the 19th.
After the launch on Mar. 23, the number of RIA accounts and balances increased to 83,035 accounts and 414 billion won at the end of Mar., and 188,418 accounts and 1.3389 trillion won at the end of Apr.
The domestic asset balance that flowed into domestic stocks, stock funds, and the like after selling foreign stocks in RIAs totals 1.2129 trillion won.
By age group, people in their 40s (31%) accounted for the largest share of RIA sign-ups. They were followed by those in their 50s (26%), 30s (21%), 60s (12%), and 20s and younger (10%).
These findings are based on the aggregation of data as of the 8th from the top 10 securities firms by number of accounts.
Korean retail investors trading U.S. stocks sold foreign big tech and bought domestic semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, as well as ETFs that diversify into domestic assets, through RIA accounts.
The foreign stock that Korean retail investors trading U.S. stocks sold the most was Nvidia. Through the 8th, they sold 180.1 billion won worth of Nvidia. They also posted a net sell of 94.7 billion won in the Direxion Semiconductor 3x ETF. Tesla (50.4 billion won), Alphabet (45.1 billion won), and Apple (36.5 billion won) also ranked among the top five by net sales.
Top names by net purchases among their domestic stocks included Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Hyundai Motor. These returning Korean retail investors trading U.S. stocks bought 78 billion won worth of Samsung Electronics and posted a net purchase of 66.7 billion won in SK hynix. They also bought exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as KODEX200 (13.4 billion won) and TIGER Semiconductor TOP10 (12.3 billion won).
RIA is a temporary special program through 2026 that exempts capital gains tax when investors transfer foreign stocks they hold into a dedicated account and reinvest the proceeds in Korea's capital market.
A Korea Financial Investment Association official said, "RIA is meaningful in that it created an opportunity for liquidity that had stayed in foreign markets to flow into the domestic capital market," adding, "We will work with the industry to launch domestic investment products with strong appeal so that RIA can serve as a channel contributing to exchange-rate stability and productive finance."