The Promising Strategic Funds for Q2 Selected by KB Asset Management

KB Asset Management proposed promising funds to watch in the second quarter of this year amid increased stock market volatility and uncertainty over interest rate cuts.

The first funds presented are ‘KB Money Market Active’ and ‘KB Long-term Government Bonds Plus.’ This is because they are suitable for the ‘bond barbell strategy,’ which pursues both stability and returns simultaneously. The approach involves investing in ‘KB Money Market Active,’ which seeks interest income through short-term bonds, while holding ‘KB Long-term Government Bonds Plus,’ a long-term bond product that can benefit from capital gains due to falling interest rates.

‘KB Money Market Active’ is a representative ultra-short-term product that mainly invests in high-yield quality bonds with maturities within about three months. Compared to money market funds (MMFs), it has fewer restrictions on asset inclusion, allowing for more active asset allocation and relatively higher performance.

‘KB Long-term Government Bonds Plus’ is a fund that invests in government bonds with durations around 10 years and high-quality corporate bonds. Through long-term bond investments with high interest rate sensitivity, it aims to pursue stable interest income and capital gains simultaneously.

With continued investor interest in U.S. growth stocks and the expectation that the market led by big tech companies will persist, funds such as ‘KB U.S. Representative Growth Stocks’ and ‘KB Global AI Platform’ were also recommended. KB U.S. Representative Growth Stocks is a fund that focuses on investing in leading U.S. growth companies such as Nvidia, Apple, and Tesla. KB Global AI Platform invests in the tech industry covering the value chain across the AI digital industry. Although small in scale, it is a fund with excellent long-term performance, boasting a one-year return exceeding 46%. Despite receiving relatively little attention amid the rapid growth of the ETF market, it is a product that KB Asset Management aims to strategically nurture this year.

For dividend products recommended during a period of falling interest rates, the ‘KB Korea REITs Infrastructure’ fund was suggested. This fund has been attracting investor interest as the dividend appeal of Korean REITs, which hold high-quality domestic real estate assets, has been highlighted amid recent expectations of interest rate cuts. By investing in Macquarie Infrastructure and high-quality listed domestic REITs, it maximizes stability and dividend income, making it ideal for pension investors as well. It has shown stable performance with a one-year return exceeding 9% (based on FnGuide as of March 28).

Jang Soon-mo, Head of Product Marketing Strategy at KB Asset Management, said, “If investors utilize strategic funds tailored to the second quarter investment themes according to their investment preferences, they can achieve stable returns,” adding, “We plan to supply various products based on segmented strategies grounded in market outlooks rather than short-term investment products in the future.”