Bubble Debate Drives Korean Retail Investors to Risky VIX Bets

Investors in South Korea looking to hedge their big US stock holdings or play their next wager are embracing a new type of trades: leveraged VIX bets.

With about $130 million in inflows this year, the 2x Long VIX Futures exchange-traded fund — which seeks twice the returns of a gauge tracking Cboe Volatility Index futures — has become one of the favorite US-listed ETFs and was the seventh most bought in July, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository. The additions represent about one-fifth of the ETF’s global inflows.

After years of piling into Big Tech and crypto ...