South Korea’s Retail Investing Boom | The “Ants” and the Leveraged ETF Craze

South Korea is experiencing its most significant retail investing frenzy in years, with the government actively channelling household capital from real estate into equities. Retail investors — nicknamed “ants” — have poured trillions of won into locally listed stocks and ETFs in 2026, making the Kospi one of the world’s best-performing indices for the second consecutive year. The rapid growth of leveraged ETFs, aggressive margin borrowing, and record brokerage deposits point to a market environment where euphoria and structural reform are deeply intertwined.

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