Korean retail investors are turning to U.S. high-leverage ETFs.

After the South Korean government strengthened its investment regulations on single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, funds from South Korean investors are rapidly shifting toward U.S. leveraged ETFs. From July 15 to August 4, the top net purchase by South Korean investors in overseas stocks was the U.S. fund SOXL, with a net purchase amount reaching $2.48789 billion. The Tesla 2x leveraged ETF had a net purchase of $214.36 million, ranking sixth. The South Korean stock market's 3x leveraged ETF also saw an inflow of $130.95 million, ranking eleventh. Data from the portal SEIBro, operated by the Korea Securities Depository, also shows that after the KOSPI index started to decline in June, South Korean retail investors net bought $633 million worth of U.S. ETFs during that month. Following a worsening decline in July, investors net bought $4.67 billion worth of U.S. stocks, marking the largest single-month net purchase since January this year.