THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY, GLOBAL EDITION

South Korean retail investors, who turn their eyes overseas for higher returns, are heavily buying into US growth stocks amid growing fears of tech stock bubbles. They are particularly attracted to Tesla Inc., becoming the 10th largest stockholder of the electric carmaker.

According to the Korea Securities Depository, the combined ownership of Tesla shares by Korean retail investors valued at $3.67 billion (4.34 trillion won), or 0.89% of the EV maker’s market capitalization of $412.5 billion as of August 28. That’s bigger than investment management firm BAMCO Inc., which hold a 0.87% stake as Tesla’s prior 10th largest shareholder.

Korea’ retail investors, known as Ants, have been active buying force on the local bourses since early this year, but with their attention shifting to foreign stock markets, some pundits call them “Seohak Ants,” meaning individual traders who invest in foreign stock markets.

Local investors held a net $145 million worth of Tesla shares at the end of 2019, accounting for a mere 0.19%. But they purchased $1.53 billion of the stock so far this year to raise their stake. Tesla alone took up 12.8% of all foreign stocks purchased by Koreans so far this year.

Korean individual investors’ buying spree in overseas markets does not confine to Tesla. Their combined investment in foreign stocks soared 123.3% so far this year to an outstanding $32.28 billion. In August, Korean retail investors bought a net $2.09 billion worth of foreign stocks until the 27th.