A survey found that the focus of asset management among the wealthy with financial assets of at least 1 billion won is shifting from real estate to financial investment. The tendency is more pronounced among newly wealthy individuals who have built up assets recently. The analysis suggests that cracks are appearing in the myth of ‘real-estate-never-fails’.

According to the ‘2026 Korea Wealth Report’ released by the Hana Institute of Finance on the 15th, 43% of the ‘ordinary wealthy’ with financial assets of at least 1 billion won answered that financial investment is more efficient than real estate for growing assets.

In particular, among ‘K-EMILLI’ (Emily·Everyday Millionaires·millionaires in everyday life) asset holders aged 50 or younger who have amassed at least 1 billion won in financial assets within the past 10 years 48% said financial investment is better than real estate.

This report analyzing the financial behavior of wealthy Koreans is based on an online survey with a total of 2713 participants. It included 713 wealthy individuals·1355 mass affluent·645 members of the general public, and classified the wealthy as those with financial assets of at least 1 billion won and the mass affluent as those holding 100 million won∼less than 1 billion won.

Four out of ten wealthy respondents said they would adjust their asset portfolios this year. Of these, 18% said they would reduce the share of real estate and increase financial assets. The intention to purchase real estate also fell from 43% last year to 37% this year. This is interpreted as the result of tough government regulations on real estate together with capital market revitalization, which has expanded the preference for financial investment.

A male respondent in his 40s said, “My current asset composition is 100% financial assets,” and added, “I tend not to consider investing in real estate because of tax risks.”

Last year, the average total assets of the wealthy stood at 7.4 billion won, up from 6.8 billion won in 2024. As both financial and real estate assets increased, the share of real estate within total assets expanded to 52% due to rising housing prices and other real estate values.

However, looking at the asset portfolio trends of the wealthy over the past five years, the share of real estate fell from 63% in 2021 to 52% last year, while the share of financial assets rose from 35% to 46%.

Among financial products, the wealthy showed particularly high interest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The share of wealthy respondents who said they planned to increase or start investments in ETFs jumped from 29% last year to 48% this year. In contrast, intentions to invest in deposits and bonds, which are classified as safe assets, both declined.

Hwang Sun-kyung, a research fellow at the Hana Institute of Finance, analyzed, “It is also a noteworthy change that cracks are appearing in the belief that real estate was an unfailing driver of wealth formation in the past and that the center of gravity in wealth management is shifting toward finance.”

The report assessed that the ultimate destination of wealth management among the wealthy is ‘inheritance·gifting’ for descendants. Sixty-eight percent of the wealthy believe that the more wealth is passed down, the greater the growth opportunities for their descendants. Eight out of ten wealthy individuals have already made plans for asset transfer, saying they will bequeath about half of their assets and use the remainder for the rest of their lives and other purposes.

Meanwhile, the report named the emerging wealthy in Korea aged 50 or younger K-EMILLI and traced how they accumulated wealth. They built seed capital for investment through saving, income increases, and inheritance·gifting, and were found to have operated portfolios allocated 54% to savings-type assets and 46% to investment assets.