Korean holdings of U.S. stocks rebound toward their record
Holdings recovered to $196.2 billion by Sept. 24. Under the surface, Korean investors moved their leveraged bets from chips to the Nasdaq-100 and kept buying U.S. index exposure through Korean-listed ETFs.
Holdings are back near the high
Korean investors held $196.2 billion of U.S. stocks as of Sept. 24, according to the Korea Securities Depository. That is about 4% below the record $204.2 billion set in May.
The path back was uneven. Holdings dropped to $171.5 billion in July, then recovered to $188.4 billion in August. Net buying resumed in September, at about $589 million through the 24th.
July and August buying was heavy
Between July 1 and Aug. 27, Korean individuals bought a net $7.04 billion of U.S. stocks: $4.64 billion in July and $2.4 billion in the first 27 days of August. That two-month total equals about 70% of their net purchases in the whole first half of the year. The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL) was the top pick.
Leverage moved from chips to the Nasdaq-100
By September, leveraged buying had shifted. From July 31 to Sept. 17, Korean investors bought a net $285.3 million of the ProShares Ultra QQQ (QLD) and $72.6 million of the ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ). Together that is $357.9 million, 1.8 times the $201.5 million that went into the unleveraged Invesco QQQ Trust.
| QLD 2x Nasdaq-100 | $285.3M | |
| QQQ 1x Nasdaq-100 | $201.5M | |
| TQQQ 3x Nasdaq-100 | $72.6M |
Korean-listed wrappers are the other competitor
U.S.-listed funds are not the only way Koreans buy U.S. indexes. In the week of Sept. 16–22, KODEX U.S. Nasdaq 100 took in ₩277.4 billion, TIGER U.S. S&P 500 took in ₩124.0 billion, and KODEX U.S. S&P 500 took in ₩72.5 billion.
These Korean-listed ETFs can be held in Korean tax-advantaged accounts, such as pension savings accounts and ISAs, which generally cannot hold overseas-listed ETFs directly. For a U.S. issuer, that makes local asset managers a competitor for the same Korean dollar.
What it means for U.S. issuers
- Demand for Nasdaq-100 exposure is intact. The open question is the wrapper. Korean investors are choosing among U.S.-listed 1x, 2x, and 3x funds and Korean-listed index ETFs.
- Positioning has to be written for Korea. A product's story should explain why it belongs in a Korean portfolio next to local alternatives.
- Flows turn quickly. Holdings swung 16% from May to July and recovered most of it within two months. Campaign timing and measurement need to work at that pace.
Sources
Korea Securities Depository data reported in Seoul Economic Daily, Sept. 27, 2026 and Sept. 18, 2026; The Korea Times, Aug. 30, 2026. Holdings values include price changes as well as net buying. For professional audiences. Not investment advice.