SEOUL, December 19 (AJP) - Nearly half of South Korean retail investors trading overseas stocks are losing money, with average profits per account falling sharply from a year earlier, the country’s financial watchdog said on Friday.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said that as of the end of August, 49.3 percent of individual investors’ overseas stock trading accounts were in loss-making territory. Average profit per account dropped to about 500,000 won, down from 4.2 million won a year earlier.
The FSS conducted on-site inspections of major securities firms and asset managers, including six brokerages with the highest overseas stock trading volumes and two leading managers of overseas equity funds, to assess investor protection and risk management practices related to overseas investing.
Retail investors have also recorded persistent losses in overseas derivatives trading regardless of market conditions, the watchdog said. From January through October, losses totaled 373.5 billion won, compared with 360.9 billion won in the same period a year earlier.
At the same time, brokerages have seen a surge in revenue from overseas trading. The top 12 securities firms by overseas stock trading volume posted record overseas stock brokerage commission revenue of 1.95 trillion won from January through November.
Foreign-exchange fee income rose to 452.6 billion won, up 53.63 percent from a year earlier.
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