South Korea’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs) took up nearly 20 percent of the main bourse’s trading volume in 2013, data showed Sunday, apparently as investors sought after safer investment destinations.

The average daily trading volume of ETFs came to 792.5 billion won ($739 million) last year, accounting for 19.3 percent of the 3.9 trillion won by the main bourse, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange (KRX).

An ETF refers to an investment fund traded on stock exchanges and represents a basket of stocks that reflects an index. It provides retail investors and institutions with a more liquid and risk-hedging tool.

The ETF’s presence on the main bourse’s daily trading volume marked a sharp rise from the 1.1 percent in 2002, when South Korea first launched the new investment fund. It also marked a 45.6 percent on-year rise from 2012.

The KRX said South Korea holds the world’s fourth-largest ETF market in terms of daily trading volume, with the United States holding the largest at $40.8 billion, trailed by Britain with $1.2 billion and Japan with $1 billion. (Yonhap)