Shinhan Investment Corp said on Tuesday that an analysis of trading by customers who opened its RIA accounts, launched on March 23, showed a clear flow of funds. It said customers moved money into South Korean large-cap blue chips and index-tracking exchange-traded funds after taking profits in overseas AI and big tech shares.

As of April 3, the overseas stock transferred into RIA accounts showed Nvidia had the highest share of selling, accounting for 19.1% of all overseas stock sales.

Apple followed with 7.8%, then Tesla with 7.4%, Alphabet A with 6.8% and Palantir Technologies with 5.4%, confirming profit-taking focused on global AI and big tech names.

By contrast, the South Korean stock most bought by customers who sold overseas shares was SK hynix, with a buying share of 15.7%. Samsung Electronics was next at 15.4%, and leading domestic large caps and index-tracking ETFs also ranked high, including KODEX 200 at 4.1%, Hyundai Motor at 3.6% and TIGER 200 at 2.5%.

This is interpreted as a result in which preference for global big tech blue chips carried over into domestic semiconductor and large-cap blue chips. The analysis said strategic fund moves by individual investors are picking up in earnest, as they use RIA accounts to enjoy tax benefits on overseas stock gains while also considering profits from domestic stock investment.

The average amount of overseas stock transferred into RIA accounts was about 30,000,000 won, about 60% of the 50,000,000 won transfer limit. Of those customers, 43.7% sold overseas stocks, and the average profit realised per seller was about 13,000,000 won.

Among customers who opened RIA accounts, men accounted for 65.3% and women 34.7%. By age group, those in their 40s were the largest at 31.4%.

They were followed by those in their 50s at 26.2%, those in their 30s at 23.4%, those aged 60 or older at 11.9% and those aged 20 or younger at 7.1%, showing notable demand for actual investing centred on middle-aged and older groups.

A Shinhan Investment official said individual investors are using RIA accounts flexibly to shift profits from overseas stock investment into the domestic market in line with the policy environment and market conditions. The official said there is a clear move to diversify by investing profits secured in AI and big tech names into domestic large-cap blue chips and index products.