Retail investors who invested in single-stock exchange-traded products (ETPs) have incurred losses exceeding 6 trillion won within just two and a half months since their launch. While the overall loss was highest among investors in their 40s, those aged 70 and above experienced the largest average loss per account, amounting to approximately 30 million won.
According to data submitted by Park Seong-hoon, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, the total losses for retail investors reached 6.313 trillion won from May 27, when the single-stock leveraged ETPs were launched, until August 14. This figure was compiled from trading data of ten comprehensive financial investment firms, including Korea Investment & Securities, Mirae Asset Securities, NH Investment & Securities, Meritz Securities, and Samsung Securities.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) calculated total profits and losses by combining realized gains and losses with the evaluation gains and losses of held products for accounts that traded single-stock ETPs at least once during the period. Of the total losses, 2.3242 trillion won were attributed to trading losses, while evaluation losses from held products amounted to 3.9888 trillion won.
By age group, investors in their 40s recorded the largest losses, totaling 2.053 trillion won across 165,200 accounts. Investors in their 50s followed with losses of 1.8655 trillion won from 158,000 accounts, while those in their 30s incurred losses of 1.0912 trillion won from 117,300 accounts. In contrast, the average loss per account was notably higher among older investors. Those aged 70 and above faced total losses of 293.4 billion won across 9,800 accounts, resulting in an average loss of approximately 29.94 million won per account. This figure is 2.6 times higher than the overall average loss of about 11.56 million won across 546,000 accounts. Investors in their 60s also recorded significant losses, totaling 805.9 billion won across 61,000 accounts, with an average loss of about 13.21 million won, exceeding the overall average.
The controversy surrounding the introduction of single-stock leverage products continues. Opposition parties are demanding an investigation into the rushed introduction of these products and accountability for those responsible, but the Blue House and the government have not responded. Meanwhile, Lee Chan-jin, the head of the Financial Supervisory Service, acknowledged during a National Assembly audit on October 19 that there were issues with the expedited review process to meet the launch schedule for the single-stock leverage products.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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