Amid the IPO Frenzy... Deposited Funds Balance Fluctuates by 10 Trillion Won in a Day

[Asia Economy Reporter Koh Hyung-kwang] Investor deposits, which are standby funds in the stock market, showed abnormal fluctuations, increasing by 5 trillion won in one day and then rapidly decreasing by more than 10 trillion won within a few days. This phenomenon is analyzed to have occurred as a large amount of subscription funds for Kakao Games, which sparked a public offering investment frenzy, poured in.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on the 7th, as of the 2nd, investor deposits were recorded at 48.6256 trillion won. This is a sharp decrease of 10.9307 trillion won (18.3%) compared to the previous day (1st), when it was 59.5563 trillion won.

Investor deposits are standby funds for stock purchases and typically fluctuate by hundreds of billions to at most a few trillion won per day. Changes on the scale of tens of trillions are extremely rare. This is the first time since the Korea Financial Investment Association began compiling deposit statistics in 1998 that a daily fluctuation of more than 10 trillion won has been observed.

Earlier, on the 28th of last month, deposits increased sharply by 5.7708 trillion won (10.5%) in one day, from 54.7561 trillion won to 60.5269 trillion won on the 31st. Although it dropped back to the 50 trillion won range (59.5563 trillion won) the very next day, it was also the first time deposits surpassed 60 trillion won in history.

Deposits have steadily increased since the stock market was greatly shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic in March, but such multi-trillion won increases and decreases in a single day are extremely unusual.

The recent surge in deposits is analyzed by the securities industry to have been driven by one-time funds aimed at subscribing to Kakao Games. In the past, it was possible to subscribe to public offerings without adding additional deposits, but in the case of Kakao Games, pure cash had to be deposited. As a result, many individual customers brought in deposits by even withdrawing bank savings or taking out loans.

A financial investment industry official said, "Previously, the underwriting firms sometimes lent subscription funds for public offerings to individual investors," adding, "However, as individual investors' margin trading (borrowing money from securities firms to buy and sell stocks) surged, securities firms with reduced remaining credit limits stopped lending for public offering subscriptions." Korea Investment & Securities, the lead underwriter for Kakao Games, has indefinitely suspended lending for public offering subscriptions since June due to insufficient credit limits, and co-underwriter Samsung Securities is in a similar situation.

A staggering 58.6 trillion won in subscription deposits poured in during the Kakao Games subscription held on the 1st and 2nd. This amount is close to double the subscription deposits of SK Biopharm (30.9899 trillion won) that caused a subscription frenzy at the end of June. A significant portion of the deposits came through investor deposits, and once the subscription ended, the funds rapidly flowed out like a receding tide.

Lee Jae-sun, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, "The deposits, which once surpassed 60 trillion won, included one-time funds for subscription, so the fluctuation was temporarily large," but added, "Since individuals' interest in public offering subscriptions and stock market investment remains high, a gradual increase in deposits is expected again, following a pattern similar to that after the SK Biopharm subscription."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.