‘Father of ETFs’ issues another warning: “Single-stock leveraged ETFs should be allowed to die naturally, not delisted… the best choice is not to invest”

Korea Investment Management CEO Bae Jae-gyu again warned that single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are highly risky and said investors should stop buying them.

He said 2x leveraged and inverse products can lose value quickly because of volatility and daily rebalancing, making them unsuitable for long-term holding.

Bae suggested the products should be allowed to wind down naturally, with support from the issuer and liquidity providers, rather than through a forced delisting.

While he remains constructive on the long-term growth of semiconductors, he advised investors to use diversified ETFs instead of betting on one memory chip maker.