"Almost Nobody Is Buying Korean Equities"… A Striking Report from a Global Investment Bank (January 21, 2026)
- #국민연금법
Frank Benzimra, Head of Asia Equity Strategy at Société Générale Cross Asset Research, made these observations on the 15th through a report titled "Who is buying Korean equities?
Almost nobody (Who is buying Korean equities? Almost nobody)."
Benzimra argued that "the only net buyers in the Korean equity market are domestic institutional investors," noting that "among these, the issuance of structured products has been particularly substantial."
He further added that "foreign investors have been net sellers, while retail investors have shown no clear directional pattern in their trading."
According to the report, domestic institutional investors were the sole net buyers of Korean equities last year. Net inflows from domestic institutional investors amounted to $13 billion, while foreign investors recorded net sales of $4 billion and retail investors net sales of $14 billion.
Benzimra noted that this "suggests a broad absence of investment demand relative to market returns."
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However, he assessed that the National Pension's capacity to expand its domestic equity demand is limited. Benzimra explained that "the National Pension's domestic equity allocation has approached the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) ceiling of 17.4%," and that "without a policy-level increase in the limit, additional purchases would be constrained."
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Benzimra stated that "the current Korean equity market amounts to nothing more than a rally without demand," observing that "actual buying has been concentrated in mechanical demand arising from structured product hedging and in Samsung Electronics."
He further recommended that "for a sustained rally, behavioral changes among retail investors, policy-driven incentives, and the creation of conditions conducive to expanding domestic equity allocations are essential."
