Samsung Asset KODEX Semiconductor Surpasses 400 Billion KRW in Net Assets for the First Time

The First Largest Semiconductor ETF Listed Domestically
KODEX Semiconductor Achieves 400 Billion KRW Net Asset Value for the First Time

Samsung Asset Management announced on the 15th that the KODEX Semiconductor ETF, which invests broadly in the domestic semiconductor industry, surpassed 400 billion KRW in net assets, reaching 426.8 billion KRW.

KODEX Semiconductor, launched in 2006, is the first semiconductor ETF and the largest product investing in key domestic semiconductor-related stocks leading the industry. Its underlying index tracks the KRX Semiconductor Index, which is composed of representative domestic semiconductor companies weighted by market capitalization. The KRX Semiconductor Index includes 41 stocks from the semiconductor sector listed on KOSPI and KOSDAQ, focusing on high-purity stocks with a large proportion of semiconductor sales.

Accordingly, KODEX Semiconductor has achieved better performance than other domestic semiconductor ETFs, recording a 1-month return of 19.3% and a year-to-date return of 47.0%, supported by the overall positive market outlook for the semiconductor industry since the beginning of the year and new favorable news.

In fact, the rapid recovery of domestic and international semiconductor demand, driven by the AI industry boom such as ChatGPT and Nvidia’s historic strong earnings, along with expectations that the production cut effects in memory semiconductors will fully materialize, have contributed to KODEX Semiconductor’s relatively higher returns. Since the beginning of the year, individual investors have net purchased 29.6 billion KRW.

Meanwhile, KODEX holds a total of five semiconductor-related ETFs, including ▲KODEX Semiconductor, ▲KODEX Fn System Semiconductor, ▲KODEX US Semiconductor MV, ▲KODEX Asia Semiconductor Supply Chain ex-China Active, and ▲KODEX Korea-China Semiconductor (Synthetic), allowing diverse investments by semiconductor type as well as by region.

In particular, recently, KODEX Fn System Semiconductor included SK Hynix in its index through a regular index rebalancing, now representing the domestic semiconductor market by including both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. SK Hynix was added due to the strong stock price correlation with domestic system semiconductor companies and the high potential for the system semiconductor portion of SK Hynix’s sales to grow over the next 2 to 3 years.

Im Tae-hyuk, Executive Director of ETF Management at Samsung Asset Management, said, "KODEX Semiconductor was the first sector ETF listed in the domestic market in 2006 and has risen more than 300% since its listing alongside the growth of domestic semiconductor companies. Samsung Asset Management not only offers KODEX Semiconductor but also a variety of semiconductor lineups such as KODEX Fn System Semiconductor, which invests in system semiconductor-related stocks, one of Korea’s future key industries; KODEX US Semiconductor MV, which tracks the same underlying index as the leading US SMH ETF in terms of scale and returns; and KODEX Asia Semiconductor Supply Chain ex-China, the only domestic ETF that can concentrate about 30% investment in leading Japanese semiconductor companies. With these, investors can invest broadly in both domestic and global semiconductor industries through KODEX ETFs alone," he stated.