South Korean retail investors lose a combined $4.8 billion on leveraged ETFs, with the 40s age group suffering the largest losses

Odaily: South Korean retail investors have lost a combined 6.31 trillion Korean won (approximately $4.8 billion) on single-stock leveraged exchange-traded products. Data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to an opposition lawmaker shows that retail investors at ten South Korean brokerage firms incurred these losses on single-stock ETPs between May 27 and August 14. The FSS's methodology includes both realized gains and losses as well as unrealized losses on open positions. Of the total, realized losses amounted to 2.32 trillion won, while unrealized losses stood at 3.99 trillion won.

Investors in their 40s recorded the largest losses, with 165,200 accounts incurring a combined unrealized loss of 2.05 trillion won; investors in their 50s saw 158,000 accounts lose a combined 1.87 trillion won; and investors in their 30s had 117,300 accounts lose a combined 1.09 trillion won. In terms of average loss per account, older investors fared worse, with investors aged 70 and above losing approximately 29.94 million won per account on average.