[Edaily Reporter Park Soon-yeop] It has been revealed that investors in their 40s account for the largest share of investments in single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on #Samsung Electronics and #SK Hynix. While those in their 50s and 60s are considered the “big players” with the largest share of stock holdings in the overall domestic stock market, relatively younger investors appear to be actively jumping into single-stock leveraged ETFs, which are high-risk, high-return products.
On the 3rd, four major domestic securities firms—Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, KB Securities, and NH Investment & Securities—aggregated data on investors and investment amounts for 14 single-stock leveraged ETFs over four business days from the 27th of last month to the 1st of this month. The results showed that the number of investors was 70,850, with a total investment amount of 3.2755 trillion won. Two inverse ETFs were excluded from the tally. The average investment per person was approximately 46.23 million won.

By age group, those in their 40s accounted for the largest share in both the number of investors and the total investment amount. Investors in their 40s numbered 20,489, representing 28.9% of the total, and their investment amount was 1.0225 trillion won, accounting for 31.2%. The proportion of investors in their 50s was also similar to that of those in their 40s at 28.7%, but their investment amount was 912.5 billion won, more than 100 billion won less than that of investors in their 40s.
This trend differs from that of the overall domestic stock market. According to the Korea Securities Depository’s report released last March on the status of shareholders in listed companies as of December 2025, individuals in their 50s accounted for the largest share of individual shareholders at 23.1% as of the end of last year, followed by those in their 40s at 21.8%. In terms of the number of shares held, those in their 50s accounted for 34.4% and those in their 60s for 26.6%, while those in their 40s accounted for only 18.6%.
However, among single-stock leveraged ETFs, the proportion of investors aged 40 and under was particularly notable. In terms of the number of investors, those in their 30s accounted for 22.2%, and those in their 20s accounted for 6.5%. Including those in their 40s, investors aged 40 and under accounted for nearly 60% of the total. The proportion of investors in their 60s remained at 11.5%.
In terms of investment amount, the share of investors aged 40 and under was also high. Investors in their 30s accounted for 19.4% of the total investment amount, while those in their 20s accounted for 5.5%. The share of investment amounts from investors aged 40 and under—including those in their 40s—was approximately 60%, surpassing that of investors aged 50 and over. However, the average investment amount per person was highest among those in their 70s and older at 64 million won, followed by those in their 60s at 51 million won. The average investment amount per person for those in their 40s was 50 million won, which was higher than the 45 million won for those in their 50s.
Single-stock leveraged ETFs are products that track twice the daily return of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. To invest, investors must complete a separate one-hour advanced training course in addition to the existing one-hour pre-investment training for leveraged ETFs. As of the 31st of last month, 380,000 people had applied for the training, and about 350,000 of them had completed the full two-hour course. The industry views this as a result of young investors actively participating in high-risk products in anticipation of high returns.
The single-stock leverage products for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, launched on the 27th of last month, have seen heavy trading volume since their listing. As of the 1st of this month, total net assets reached 6 trillion won, including two inverse-type products. Trading volume, which hit 10.418 trillion won on the first day of listing before temporarily declining, surged again to 9.0535 trillion won on the 1st.