Asian Retail Investors: Seohak Ants to NISA and SIPs — 2026-09-27

Top developments

Korean retail returns to net US buying as holdings near $200bn

Korean investors held $196.249 billion in US stocks as of September 24, per the Korea Securities Depository — about 4% below the record $204.161 billion set in May. Domestic investors net bought $527.3 million of US stocks from September 1–22, turning positive after net selling earlier in the month, on a tech rally and AI optimism.

Barbell strategy: 3x chips plus ultra-short Treasury piles

Seohak ants are simultaneously loading up on 3x leveraged semiconductor ETFs and cash-like US ultra-short Treasury ETFs — betting on a chip rebound while hedging volatility. vernacular outlets describe holdings at ~₩268.57 trillion ($197.48 billion for Sept 1–21).

Shift from big tech single stocks to ETFs

Over the past month the most net-bought overseas security was the iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) with $246.59 million (about ₩340.3 billion) in net purchases; ETFs took six of the top 10 overseas picks as investors rotated away from big tech single names. Locally, US headline-index ETFs topped both the KOSPI and US market net-buy lists on September 26.

Japan: third straight month of ¥2tn+ investment trust inflows

August estimated net inflows into Japanese added-type equity investment trusts (ex-ETFs) reached ¥2.13 trillion — a third consecutive month above ¥2 trillion, though down ¥560 billion from July's ¥2.7 trillion. Nissei Basicators attribute the flows partly to ongoing NISA money.

India: SIP AUM at record ₹18.62 lakh crore

August 2026 SIP AUM rose 23% year-on-year to a record ₹18.62 lakh crore, with monthly SIP collections at ₹32,297 crore. The SIP stoppage ratio improved to 81.05% in August (vs above 100% in March–April 2026), and SIP accounts crossed 10.02 crore — signals of improving retail persistence in equity risk.

Local view

Korean-language media frames the story as a two-way barbell: Financial News ("AI·반도체 다시 간다") reports retail turned net buyers after September 14, while Seoul Shinmun notes that during the Chuseok holiday (Korean market closed September 24–25), individuals aggressively traded 3x and inverse-3x semiconductor ETFs plus Alphabet, Intel and AMD. Newsway flagged last year's Chuseok-week record of ₩1.76 trillion net US buying and warned of return-risk on leveraged products during this holiday week.

Context & numbers

• Korean US stock holdings: $196.249bn (Sept 24), record $204.161bn (May).
• Korean net US purchases Sept 1–22: $527.3m.
• SGOV 1-month net buys: $246.59m (₩340.3bn).
• Japan Aug investment trust inflows: ¥2.13tn; July: ¥2.7tn.
• India Aug SIP: AUM ₹18.62tn (lakh crore), collections ₹32,297 crore, stoppage ratio 81.05%, accounts 10.02 crore.
• China margin: two-market margin balance ₩-equivalent RMB 2,638.22 billion (2.638tn yuan) as of Sept 18, up ~66bn yuan week-on-week; ETF margin balance surged to RMB 115.16bn on Sept 23 (+1.62bn), up from 113.13bn on Sept 21. India's September IPOs raised ₹38,785 crore despite secondary-market selling.

On the radar

• Korean US holdings re-testing the $204bn record — watch for a fresh all-time high in early-October depository data.
• Post-Chuseok domestic flows: whether US-index ETF buying momentum carries into domestic listings.
• Japan: whether September extends the ¥2tn monthly inflow streak to four months, with NISA tsumitate-eligible products now numbering 370.
• India: October AMFI data to confirm whether the improving 81% stoppage ratio holds; September IPO fundraising (₹38,785 crore) may draw flows from SIP-linked allocations.