KakaoPay Securities' returning-to-Korean-stocks account (RIA) has topped 50,000 in 45 days after launch. A shift was also confirmed in which profit-taking funds from overseas artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor-related stocks such as Nvidia and Tesla moved into South Korean bellwether shares including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

KakaoPay Securities said on Monday that the number of RIA account openings surpassed 50,000 as of May 6. That was about 45 days after it launched the service on March 23.

RIA is a temporary tax-benefit account that allows investors to reinvest funds from selling overseas stocks into South Korean stocks and other assets. Investors can receive capital gains tax reduction benefits if they hold the reinvestment for at least 1 year.

KakaoPay Securities' 50,000 accounts are about one quarter of roughly 200,000 RIA accounts across the industry, based on figures compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association. The company said RIA has been quickly taking root in the market since the service launch.

The direction of fund flows was also clear. As of May 6, the top overseas stocks deposited into KakaoPay Securities RIA accounts were Nvidia, Tesla, SOXL, Alphabet and Palantir, in that order. SOXL is a U.S. semiconductor 3x leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF). The company said demand for profit-taking appears to have flowed in, centered on U.S. large-cap AI and semiconductor stocks.

Those funds headed into South Korean semiconductor and AI-related stocks. As of the same date, the top South Korean stocks by purchase amount were Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, TIGER Semiconductor TOP10 ETF, KODEX AI Power Core Facilities ETF and Hyundai Motor, in that order.

AI and semiconductors stood out in sector and theme distribution as well. When RIA account balances were classified by industry, AI and semiconductors had the largest share at 19% among the top 40 overseas stocks. Electric vehicles followed at 8%, and big tech at 6%.

In South Korean stocks, AI and semiconductors also had the largest share at 16% among the top 30 stocks. Investment destinations shifted from overseas to South Korea, but investor preference for the AI and semiconductor theme appears to be continuing.

A KakaoPay Securities official said, "The rapid growth of RIA accounts shows investors' moves to reduce capital gains tax and take advantage of investment opportunities in the South Korean market." The official added, "A trend is emerging in which users with experience investing in overseas stocks are broadening their investment scope to include South Korea's representative stocks and ETFs."