[Click e Stocks] If Investing in the Robot Sector

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Interest in related stocks is rising as Samsung Electronics moves to strengthen its robot business sector.

According to DB Financial Investment on the 16th, Samsung Electronics recently upgraded its robot commercialization task force to a permanent organization called the Robot Business Team through an organizational restructuring, raising expectations that the robot business will be fully launched. Samsung Electronics is expected to release home robots that can be used in connection with smartphones and home appliances. Additionally, it is preparing for the commercialization of 'Samsung Bot Serving,' which assists with ordering, payment, and serving in shopping malls and restaurants, and 'Samsung Bot Guide,' a customer service robot. In August, Samsung announced that it would invest 240 trillion KRW over the next three years in system semiconductors, bio, next-generation communications, artificial intelligence, and robots.

Global X, a leader in the U.S. thematic ETF market, presented blockchain, robotics, and cybersecurity as promising themes for 2022. The robotics sector was highlighted with investment points such as population aging, rising labor costs, and improved robot performance. In an environment where population aging is inevitable due to increased life expectancy and declining birth rates, labor costs are rapidly rising even as workers return after the COVID-19 shock. Meanwhile, the cost of industrial robots is decreasing, and productivity is increasing through optimization using artificial intelligence. Boston Consulting Group predicted that production efficiency from robots will increase by 30% by 2025. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, also suggested focusing on automation robots following digital innovation and next-generation oncology in its mega trends report released in early December 2022.

Seol Tae-hyun, a researcher at DB Financial Investment, said, "The method of investing in the robotics sector may vary depending on the investment region," and added, "If investing in overseas companies, it is recommended to use ETFs listed in the U.S."

This is because robots are utilized in various fields such as medical care, factories, and mobility. Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF [BOTZ: US], the largest in total assets under management, invests in companies from developed countries. ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF [ARKQ: US] and ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF [ROBO: US] expand their investment regions globally. Overlapping holdings include Intuitive Surgical [ISRG: US], Nvidia [NVDA: US], and Keyence [6861: JP].

In Korea, since there is no robotics-themed ETF, investors must directly invest in companies engaged in related businesses. Researcher Seol explained, "It is necessary to further examine how much robotics accounts for in each company's business area and the growth potential," adding, "According to the robotics portfolio composition calculated by data provider DeepSearch, the robotics portfolio has shown higher volatility on average compared to the KOSPI over the past five years, along with outperforming it."