Why 'money rebalancing' matters now — top investment experts to gather at DDP on Oct. 2

Herald Money Festa 2026 opens at DDP on Oct. 2

Theme: 'Money Rebalancing — recalibrating the weight of your assets'

Shares, ETFs, real estate, gold, virtual assets and tax planning all on the agenda

Kim Kyung-pil, Agigom, Ppasong, Oh Geon-young, Yeom Seung-hwan among speakers

A speaker addresses the audience at Herald Money Festa 2025 last year. [Herald DB]

This year, investors have experienced both the euphoria of a bull market and the anxiety of a sharp sell-off within a matter of months. The Kospi surpassed the 9,000 mark for the first time in history in June before swinging wildly in both directions, with money rushing into and out of specific sectors and assets — semiconductors chief among them — in rapid succession. The episode underscored that deciding how to reposition existing holdings has become just as important as deciding what to buy next.

Against that backdrop, Herald Money Festa 2026 is set to offer some answers when it opens Oct. 2 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul for a two-day run. This year's theme is "Money Rebalancing: Recalibrating the Weight of Your Assets." Covering everything from shares, ETFs, real estate, gold and virtual assets to wealth management, tax planning and inheritance strategies, the event is being billed as a chance for investors to take stock of their portfolios and the direction of their money in a fast-changing market.

This year's market moves have made a compelling case for why rebalancing matters now. The Kospi surged past the 9,300 level during trading in June, hitting an all-time high, only to fall back to around 5,200 by late July — a retreat of that magnitude in just over a month. The index swung so violently, moving more than 3 percent on 14 of 22 trading days in July alone, that traders coined the term "Roller-Kospi" to describe the volatility. Circuit breakers were triggered 25 times over June and July combined.

Investors' asset allocations shifted quickly in response. During the rally, money poured into riskier domestic assets such as shares and ETFs, but the sharp downturn prompted a visible rotation back toward savings deposits, cash-equivalent instruments, bonds and gold.

Visitors browse exhibition booths at the opening of Herald Money Festa 2025 last October. [Herald DB]

"Demand had been growing to move away from savings-deposit-heavy, conservative portfolios and diversify into investment assets like shares and ETFs, but recently the share of savings deposits has been rising again," a financial industry official said. "We are also seeing a lot of consultations from clients who want to hold cash-equivalent assets and stable products alongside their investments as a hedge against market volatility."

Min Se-jin, a private banking team leader at Shinhan Bank's PWM Seoul Finance Center, echoed that view. "Many customers have recently shifted their focus from growing their assets to protecting them," she said. "Interest is rising in products that offer both stability and tax benefits — things like government bonds, insurance and gold."

Fund flows tell the same story. Retail investors' ETF purchases in the first half of this year were heavily concentrated in semiconductor products, but more recently the range of destinations has broadened to include gold, nuclear power plants, real estate investment trusts and power infrastructure. Mixed ETFs that hold both bonds and shares have also attracted inflows, reflecting demand from investors who want to keep upside exposure while reducing volatility.

The numbers bear this out. Net assets in domestically listed bond-mixed ETFs stood at 24.37 trillion won ($17.9 billion) as of Sept. 3, up 59.1 percent from the end of January. Net assets in mixed ETFs focused primarily on domestic bonds rose 64.6 percent over the same period, climbing from 9.48 trillion won to 15.6 trillion won. The figures point to growing investor appetite for strategies that retain some equity upside while using bond holdings to dampen volatility.

Visitors move through the venue at Herald Money Festa 2025 last year. [Herald DB]

Financial industry experts say the essence of rebalancing lies not in chasing high-returning assets but in adjusting the weight of one's portfolio to match changing market conditions. The more volatile the market, they argue, the more important it becomes to review whether one's asset allocation still fits one's investment goals and risk tolerance.

That thinking is precisely what Herald Money Festa 2026 has put front and center with its theme of "recalibrating the weight of your assets." The event targets a wide range of investors — from millennials and Gen Z workers saving their first paychecks to those in their 50s and 60s thinking about inheritance and tax efficiency — and will cover shares, ETFs, real estate, gold and virtual assets alongside wealth management, tax planning and succession strategies. Speakers include Kim Kyung-pil, known online as "Dongjjulnam" and chief executive of Money Training Lab; Agigom, head of Agigom Economics Academy; Kim Hak-ryeol, known as "Ppasong" and director of Smart Tube's real estate research institute; Kim In-man; Kim Je-kyeong, director of Tumi Real Estate Consulting; Oh Geon-young, head of Shinhan Bank's Premier Pathfinder unit; Oh Tae-min, chief executive of Otaebus; Yoo Dong-won, a division head at Yuanta Securities Korea; Yeom Seung-hwan, a director at LS Securities' digital sales division; and author Park Min-su, also known as Choi Go Min-su.

rim@heraldcorp.com