South Korean retail investors lost 1.7 billion USD over several months due to leveraged ETFs

According to Bloomberg, the office of a South Korean lawmaker cited data from the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea, indicating that retail investors in South Korea are expected to lose approximately 2.3 trillion won (about 1.7 billion USD) from May 27 to August 14 by tracking single-stock leveraged ETFs and note products related to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Since July, South Korean regulators have implemented measures such as temporarily banning the listing of new leveraged single-stock products, raising minimum cash margin requirements, and strengthening investor education to mitigate the risks associated with these products.