Korean Retail Investors Bet on AI Chips via Hong Kong Leveraged ETFs
N.R. Finch
Korean retail investors poured over $500 million into Hong Kong-listed leveraged ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in the first five months of this year — FOMO meets a domestic product gap, pushing capital offshore.
What are Korean retail investors buying?
Two products, both issued by CSOP Asset Management: one tracks Samsung Electronics, the other SK Hynix. Both are 2× leveraged ETFs.
This means → a 1% rise in the underlying stock delivers roughly 2% in NAV gains — but losses are doubled too.
Combined AUM already exceeds $14 billion. The funds launched in May and October last year.
How much money, and where is it going?
SEIBro data from Korea's securities depository shows these two were the most-purchased Hong Kong products by Korean investors in January–May: $312 million into the SK Hynix fund, $211 million into the Samsung fund.
In plain terms = over $500 million in five months, all concentrated on leveraged bets on two chip companies.
CSOP says Korean retail investors are a small share of total traders, but they have become a meaningful driver of daily turnover in both ETFs.
Why not buy at home in Korea?
The core reason: when these products launched, Korea's domestic market had no equivalent leveraged ETFs available to retail investors.
This means → anyone wanting leveraged exposure to their own chip champions had to go offshore — and Hong Kong was the venue.
Analysts also cite currency advantages, easier market access, and regulatory differences between the two markets as factors lowering the cross-border barrier.
What does this wave of flows signal?
The underlying driver is the global AI boom — Samsung and Hynix are core suppliers in the AI chip memory stack, and retail investors are betting on that logic chain.
This reflects a broader pattern: when FOMO meets a domestic product vacuum, capital finds its own way out — even if that means crossing borders and adding leverage.
Put simply = Korean retail investors don't prefer Hong Kong; they go there because what they want to buy is only sold there.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.