In the first half of 2026, the total net assets of domestic public and private funds reached 1,734.5 trillion won, marking a 26% increase over six months. Public funds, driven by the growth of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), have now surpassed private funds in net asset size.
According to the Financial Investment Association's report on '2026 First Half Fund Market Trends' released on July 31, the total net assets of all funds (public and private) stood at 1,734.5 trillion won as of the end of June, an increase of 358.2 trillion won (26.0%) from the end of last year (1,376.3 trillion won). The growth rate for the first half of this year is more than double that of the second half of last year (11.4%).
The net assets of public funds rose to 897.4 trillion won, an increase of 288 trillion won (47.3%) compared to the end of last year, while private funds grew by 70.2 trillion won (9.2%) to 837.1 trillion won. As a result, the share of public funds in the overall fund market increased from 44.3% at the end of last year to 51.7%, surpassing the share of private funds (48.3%).
The growth of public funds was primarily driven by ETFs. The net assets of ETFs surged from 297.1 trillion won at the end of last year to 512.4 trillion won by the end of June, an increase of 215.3 trillion won (72.4%). The proportion of ETFs within public fund net assets also grew from 48.8% to 57.1% during the same period. Excluding ETFs, the net assets of public funds still increased by 72.7 trillion won (23.3%) to 385 trillion won.
Among ETF types, equity ETFs accounted for the largest share at 63.7%, followed by derivative ETFs (20.5%) and bond ETFs (10.3%).
In terms of fund types, all categories except for bond funds saw an increase in net assets. Equity funds experienced the largest growth, increasing by 209.6 trillion won, followed by derivative funds (44.8 trillion won) and money market funds (MMFs) (32 trillion won). In contrast, bond funds saw a decrease of 3.3 trillion won.
In the first half of the year, a total of 126.3 trillion won flowed into all funds. Public funds received a net inflow of 96.9 trillion won, while private funds saw a net inflow of 29.3 trillion won.
By fund type, equity funds attracted the most capital with 50.9 trillion won, followed by MMFs (28.4 trillion won), derivative funds (12.2 trillion won), and mixed funds (10.6 trillion won). Bond funds experienced a net outflow of 3 trillion won. In public funds, capital inflows were concentrated in equity funds (54.4 trillion won) and MMFs (23.3 trillion won), while private funds primarily attracted capital in bond funds (6.7 trillion won) and mixed asset funds (6.5 trillion won).
Regionally, domestic investment funds showed significant growth. The net assets of domestic investment funds reached 1,137.4 trillion won, an increase of 265.2 trillion won (30.4%) from the end of last year, accounting for 65.6% of total funds. Meanwhile, net assets of overseas investment funds rose by 93 trillion won (18.5%) to 597.1 trillion won, but their overall share decreased to 34.4% from 36.6% at the end of last year.
Notably, the net assets of domestic equity funds surged from 125.6 trillion won at the end of last year to 282.9 trillion won by the end of June, reflecting a 125.2% increase and indicating a strong inflow of capital into the domestic stock market during the first half of the year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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