TechFlow News, May 24: South Korea will launch its first batch of individual-stock leveraged ETFs next week. These products are linked to chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, aiming to deliver daily returns of ±2x the underlying stocks’ performance. Analysts expect strong demand from South Korea’s more than 14 million retail investors.
However, such enthusiasm may further amplify market volatility, especially as intraday swings in the KOSPI Index—now routinely reaching 5%—become increasingly common. “These ETFs will exacerbate existing concentration risks, posing a structural challenge for long-term investors, as index volatility remains persistently high and renders the Korean market difficult to navigate,” said the CEO of Singapore-based Fibonacci Asset Management.
Yoon Jaehong, an analyst at Mirae Asset Daewoo, forecasts that net inflows into the 14 leveraged ETFs—betting on either Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix and scheduled to list by the end of May—could reach up to 5.3 trillion Korean won. He noted that, in the first two months of this year alone, 300,000 investors completed the mandatory online training required before investing in leveraged products—surpassing the total number for all of 2025.
