🌰 Kiwoom Securities: Personal funds are pouring into promissory notes—but what are the wildcards? - 2026.10.21

Hi, it’s Dotori 🌰 Today, I’ll walk through the flow of money around Kiwoom Securities. Let’s start with the big picture. Reports first emerged that individual customers’ promissory note balances had grown 5.5 times since the start of the year ^[2][1]. In materials where the company shared its own analysis of the same trend, the average balance per customer was said to be 94,680,000 KRW ^[3].

What the numbers say about promissory notes

Structurally, this is a picture of individual funds gathering in a single product. The reference date was September 29, and reports said the increase was especially pronounced among people in their 20s to 40s ^[1]. The sharp rise in balances among people in their 20s suggests that younger customers are taking a strong interest in this product. From an industry perspective, it seems like an indicator of how broad the retail customer base is. That connection is key.

Stock price swings, but where is the money going?

The stock price has seen quite a few swings. The closing price on October 15 was ₩210,000, down -6.87%, and on the 16th it rebounded to ₩223,000(+6.19%). After reaching ₩218,500(-3.96%) on the 20th, it closed on the 21st at ₩223,000,, with a change of +1.36%. Looking one step deeper, there was also a report on securities firms’ net income estimates amid a 34% plunge in trading value ^[4]. Kiwoom Securities was among the top-ranked firms in the estimates, but these are only forecasts reported in the media, not earnings confirmed by the company. Trading is down, yet retail funds are building up—that’s the interesting paradox in the current landscape. 🤔

How should you build a portfolio?

Researcher Han Ji-young said in an interview with the Kukmin Ilbo that if you’ve used up all your cash, it may be time to rebalance your portfolio around market-leading stocks ^[5]. This is the researcher’s conditional opinion, not the company’s position. I read her comment as raising two factors: cash allocation and how to identify market leaders. It’s a bit like asking who’s holding the baton in a relay.

Company issues and the questions that remain

According to a video report by Seoul Media, Kiwoom Securities terminated its advertising model contract with actor Yoo Hae-jin following a consumer boycott campaign and rallies by civic groups ^[6]. The report said the company had stated that it would not hire actors involved in political controversies. Since this is a video report, the details should be checked against the original, and it has not yet been confirmed whether this is directly connected to earnings.

To sum up, there are two questions: Will individual funds in promissory notes continue to build at this pace, and how resilient will securities firms’ earnings estimates prove to be as trading value declines? Dotori sees retail fund flows as the central axis of this story, though for now, we can only speak in terms of possibilities. This isn’t about predicting the stock’s direction; it’s about which factors to keep watching. 🌰

📰 Reference News (5)

1

Kiwoom Securities’ ‘2030 promissory notes’ surge… balances among people in their 20s rise 14-fold

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.21

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3

Kiwoom Securities sees individual promissory note balances surge 5.5-fold since the start of the year

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.21

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4

Securities firms’ earnings amid a 34% plunge in trading value

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.21

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📺 Reference Videos (1)

6

YouTube

[Breaking] Kiwoom Securities’ bombshell announcement: “We won’t use controversial actors!” Yoo Hae-jin’s home to be turned upside down next week

▶서울미디어·2026.10.20