SK Securities said on the 1st that Korea Investment Holdings has seen its brokerage market share rise sharply as the average daily transaction value of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has surged. It maintained a "Buy" investment opinion and a target price of 4.1 million won. The previous day's closing price of Korea Investment Holdings was 221,000 won.
Jang Young-im, an SK Securities researcher, said, "As the average daily transaction value of ETFs has surged, the landscape of brokerage market share is changing."
As of June this year, the brokerage market share of Korea Investment & Securities Co., a subsidiary of Korea Investment Holdings, was 13.6% (combined Korea Exchange (KRX), alternative trading system, and ETFs), up 2.8 percentage points (p) from the previous month. As a result, the gap with the competitor that had long held the No. 1 position in brokerage market share (14.8%) narrowed to 1.3 percentage points.
It said this contrasts with the previous regular session (combined Korea Exchange (KRX) and alternative trading system) share, which usually lagged the No. 1 firm by a wide 7–8 percentage points.
Analysts said the sharp rise in Korea Investment & Securities Co.'s ETF share was largely driven by the launch of single-stock leveraged ETFs.
Researcher Jang said, "As interest in single-stock leveraged ETFs has grown, orders through direct market access (DMA) services have increased significantly," adding, "Accordingly, Korea Investment & Securities Co.'s ETF transaction value in June rose 67.4% from the previous month, showing the steepest growth among universe securities."
Jang added that particularly in a phase like now, where flows are concentrated in semiconductor stocks, it is necessary to focus on DMA competitiveness that enables the absorption of single-stock leveraged ETF flows from not only retail clients but also foreigners and institutions. This, the researcher said, could secure a share advantage in the growing ETF market and, in the mid to long term, lead to an expansion of brokerage market share.
Researcher Jeong said, "In addition to the previously cited investment points—overwhelmingly strong recurring earnings power versus competitors and competitiveness in book business—now the potential to leap into the industry's leading group in brokerage market share is a new investment point," adding, "Meanwhile, the valuation remains lower than competitors."