Samsung Active Asset, KoAct AI Infrastructure Active ETF Listed

Samsung Active Asset Management announced on the 9th that it will list the KoAct AI Infrastructure Active ETF as the sixth ETF under the ‘KoAct’ series.

While existing AI ETFs mainly focused on specific sectors such as semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment, the KoAct AI Infrastructure Active ETF is an AI infrastructure value chain product that invests broadly in AI infrastructure, including semiconductors, strategic devices, and networks.

KoAct AI Infrastructure Active selectively invests in industries expected to benefit from new infrastructure investments such as data centers and cloud services with the advent of the AI era. It selects companies that possess core technologies in semiconductors, power equipment, and network sectors that can participate in the growth benefits of AI infrastructure, and pursues an active management strategy that flexibly adjusts the portfolio considering the growth cycles of these sectors. This product is designed and managed by the team responsible for the KODEX Renewable Energy Active ETF, which has attracted investor attention by outperforming its benchmark index by over 100 percentage points within three years of operation.

The portfolio of KoAct AI Infrastructure Active invests in key value chain companies in semiconductors, power equipment, and networks such as ▲SK Hynix ▲Techwing ▲LS Electric ▲HD Hyundai Electric ▲Isu Petasys. The total expense ratio is 0.5% per annum.

Market research firm IDC forecasted that annual cloud infrastructure spending this year will increase by 26.1% from last year to $138.3 billion. It projected a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4% through 2028.

Along with GPUs (Graphic Processing Units), which are essential for AI infrastructure, demand for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) is expected to continue. In addition to HBM required for computing, demand for high-performance general DRAM and NAND, which are necessary for memory storage, is also expected to increase.

Regarding foundational infrastructure including power equipment, major U.S. CEOs have already warned about the impact of AI growth on power grids, indicating the need for large-scale expansion. Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned power shortages by 2025, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also emphasized the need for increased power capacity due to AI. Since AI search consumes about ten times more power than general search, AI data centers require more than five times the transformers compared to existing data centers, leading to a significant increase in demand for high-voltage transformers.

Seobumjin Seo, Head of Strategy Solutions at Samsung Active Asset Management, said, "The semiconductor, power, and network industries, which are core to the AI industry’s infrastructure, are expected to rapidly evolve over the next decade through many technological advancements." He added, "KoAct AI Infrastructure Active plans not only to select companies with core technological capabilities but also to actively pursue differentiated returns suitable for an active management style through proactive portfolio rebalancing aligned with market conditions."