South Korean Retail Investors Post $38.65 Billion Losses from Leveraged ETFs, Citi Estimates

According to Citi Global Markets Securities, South Korean retail investors suffered approximately $38.65 billion (about 56.3 trillion won) in losses from leveraged ETF investments, as the products' market cap collapsed from $52.5 billion to $19 billion as of July 29.

Among individual stocks, SK Hynix leveraged ETFs saw the steepest decline of roughly $24.74 billion. Despite the losses, retail investors have continued net buying SK Hynix since July 23, accumulating an estimated $8.3 billion in unrealized losses on these purchases, with an average cost basis of 2.28 million won compared to current trading levels around 1.492 million won.