As the domestic stock market has recently boomed, so-called "debt investing," in which investors borrow to invest, is increasing not only in individual stocks but also in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market.
In particular, for ETFs that focus on the semiconductor sector, margin loan balances have surged over the past month, placing many of them near the top in net increases.
According to Koscom CHECK on the 3rd, as of on the 1st, the margin loan balance (margin balance) for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix stood at 425.52 billion won and 353.0 billion won, respectively. These are the largest among listed issues.
The margin balance is the amount investors borrowed from securities firms to buy stocks that has not yet been repaid. The margin balance generally increases as investor sentiment grows stronger in anticipating a rise in share prices.
Expectations for share price gains in the two large semiconductor stocks have spread to ETFs that include those names.
KODEX AI Semiconductor TOP2 Plus from Samsung Asset Management, which holds core artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor names centered on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, saw its margin balance increase by 14.5 billion won over the past month (May 4–June 1).
By market cap weight, this ETF allocates about 50% to Samsung Electronics (24.76%) and SK hynix (24.40%). The weight of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, whose share price has surged recently, also reaches 34.53%. As of on the 1st, the ETF's total margin balance was 20.6 billion won, meaning funds borrowed for investing accounted for 70.6% of the total balance concentrated over the past month.
Notably, on the 28th of last month alone, 8.1 billion won in new margin loans flowed in for a single day, more than double the repayment amount (3.7 billion won).
Even though the cumulative margin balance itself is not large, it ranked 29th by net increase over the month.
Other semiconductor and major index-tracking ETFs are also drawing sharply rising debt-investment inflows. During the same period, the margin balance of HANARO Fn K-Semiconductor increased by 7.5 billion won to 12.8 billion won. TIGER 200 IT rose by 6.3 billion won to 8.8 billion won. KODEX 200, which tracks the KOSPI 200 index, also increased by 7.3 billion won to 38.2 billion won.
KoAct Biohealthcare Active (margin balance 12.7 billion won; net increase 5.6 billion won) and HANARO Power Equipment Investment (6.9 billion won; 5.3 billion won) both entered the top 50 by net increase in margin balances.
Amid the market boom, individual investors are actively using leverage in the ETF market beyond individual stocks.
In response, the financial authorities have also significantly strengthened related monitoring. If the market enters a correction phase, excessive debt investing can lead to forced liquidation, dealing a blow to investors.
At the second Consumer Risk Response Council held on the 18th of last month, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin instructed officials to respond with heightened vigilance to practices by financial companies that encourage excessive debt investing and leveraged (borrowed) investing, as well as capital-market disruptions by some "finfluencers."