Individual Investors Shift from ETFs to Direct Stock Investments, Surpassing 'Donghak Ant Movement' Levels

Stronger Buying Momentum Than the "Donghak Ant Movement"

Rising Expectations for Improvement Led by Semiconductor Companies

In March, the surge in net purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by individual investors slowed significantly, while purchases of individual stocks increased sharply.

According to the Korea Exchange and financial information provider FnGuide on March 29, the net purchase volume of ETFs by individual investors from the start of this month through the 26th amounted to 6 trillion won. Although there were still a few trading days left in March, this figure was sharply lower than last month's net ETF purchases by individuals, which totaled 9.8657 trillion won. Compared to the net purchase amount in January (14.9765 trillion won), it did not even reach half.

The total trading amount—combining ETF purchases and sales by individuals in March—surpassed 218 trillion won, well over 200 trillion won. This exceeds the trading volumes in January and February, which stood at 182 trillion won and 196 trillion won, respectively. This suggests that while interest in ETFs remains high, net purchases are declining. Notably, this trend is even more pronounced considering that several active ETFs utilizing the KOSDAQ index were launched in March and attracted strong interest from individual investors, leading to increased selling pressure.

As net buying by individuals declined, the total net assets of ETFs, which had been on a sharp upward trend, also lost momentum. After peaking at 387.642 trillion won on February 27, total ETF net assets decreased to 374.6788 trillion won as of March 26.

The decrease in net ETF purchases by individual investors stands in contrast to the main stock market. By March 27, individuals had purchased 35.6325 trillion won worth of shares on the KOSPI this month alone. This is the first time that individual net purchases in the main stock market have exceeded 30 trillion won. It also surpassed the 22.3384 trillion won recorded in January 2021, during the height of the so-called "Donghak Ant Movement" in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Individuals who had net purchased 4.3442 trillion won and 8.5544 trillion won in January and February, respectively, greatly expanded their scale—by four to eight times. Experts analyze that this phenomenon is driven by a shift in investor sentiment aimed at maximizing returns. They point out that there is a growing belief that corporate earnings, especially in the semiconductor sector, will improve.

Amid the sluggish performance of the New York stock market, net purchases by individual investors known as "Seohak ants"—who invest in U.S. stocks—also dropped sharply this month. As of March 26, net purchases of U.S. stocks stood at 476 million dollars (716.3 billion won), only about one-ninth of the 3.949 billion dollars (about 5.959 trillion won) net purchased in February.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.