South Korean retail investors are accelerating purchases of U.S. index-tracking exchange-traded funds as volatility in the domestic stock market drives demand for diversified, long-term exposure. Mirae Asset Global Investments said on the 18th that retail net buying in the TIGER US S&P500, TIGER US Nasdaq100 and TIGER US Dividend Dow Jones reached 1.0418 trillion won ($739.2 million) over the past month. Korea Exchange data for the month through the 14th showed net purchases of 609.9 billion won, 298.8 billion won and 133.1 billion won in the three funds, respectively. Monthly retail net buying has remained above 1 trillion won since May 14, up 6.3 times from 164.3 billion won a year earlier, while year-to-date buying has risen to 7.0987 trillion won, more than 37% above last year's full-year 5.1594 trillion won. Broader overseas equity ETFs drew 520.9 billion won between the 10th and 14th of this month, and sustained inflows have lifted the three TIGER funds' combined assets to about 37 trillion won, or 52% of comparable ETFs' 71.5 trillion won total.