Retail investors interested: Metaverse ETFs in South Korea receive over a billion US dollars in inflows

• Since 2021 there have been ETFs that only contain stocks from companies with a connection to the Metaverse
• So far, more than 800 million US dollars have flowed into four of the Metaverse ETFs existing in South Korea as of mid-January 2021
• The Metaverse ETFs are particularly popular with small investors in South Korea

The Metaverse is supposed to be the future of the internet. The relatively young project in the development phase is receiving more and more attention from the public – and seems to have already convinced the financial world: There are now Metaverse ETFs that are experiencing inflows in the billions. Content of these ETFs are stocks related to the development of new technology.

Over $100 million in ETF inflows in just two weeks

According to the US news channel CNBC, the Metaverse ETFs are particularly popular in South Korea, where the first such ETFs were launched in the summer of 2021. As of mid-January 2022, there were already eight ETFs of this type in South Korea, which received over USD 1 billion in inflows. CNBC extracts this information from data from Samsung Asset Management. Speaking to Rahul Sen Sharma, managing partner at index provider Indxx, the news outlet also learned that the first four Metaverse ETFs received over $100 million in grants in just two weeks back in October 2021.

Four Metaverse ETFs are particularly popular in South Korea

Among the eight Metaverse ETFs in South Korea as of mid-January, according to CNBC, the following were particularly popular:

– KODEX K-Metaverse Active (by Samsung Asset Management)
– Hanaro Fn K-Metaverse MZ (by NH Amundi Asset Management)
– KBSTAR iSelect Metaverse (by KB Asset Management)
– Tiger Fn Metaverse (by Mirae Asset Global Investment)

So far, a total of 800 million US dollars have flowed into these four ETFs.

70 percent of the inflows come from small investors

Sharma comments on this, according to CNBC: “These high fund inflows show a generally positive outlook on the Metaverse issue, along with the developments that illustrate the growing popularity among the citizens and government of South Korea”. According to data from Samsung Asset Management, small investors accounted for as much as 70 percent of inflows into the Metaverse ETFs, according to CNBC.

Small investors dominate ETFs in Asia Pacific

According to Sharma, small investors in Asia Pacific are also driving ETF growth in other thematic areas – for example, the share of Australian retail investors has increased by 33 percent in 2021. During the conversation, Sharma also quoted a recent report from Euroclear and predicted that demand for ETFs in this area would increase from USD 1.5 trillion to USD 5 trillion within the next five years.

Compared to the 70 percent share of small investors in the Metaverse ETFs in South Korea, retail investors in Europe account for five to seven percent of the trading volume so far, according to CNBC, citing data from Vanda Research. In the USA, according to Citibank, it is almost 40 percent. It remains to be seen whether these figures will change with the apparently planned release of Metaverse ETFs in these regions.

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