KB Asset Management's 'RISE ETF' Surpasses 12 Trillion KRW in Net Assets

KB Asset Management announced on the 18th that the net assets of its Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) have surpassed 12 trillion KRW.

The net assets of KB Asset Management's RISE ETFs increased by about 24% over six months, from 9.7222 trillion KRW at the end of 2023 to 12.049 trillion KRW as of the 15th of this month, maintaining its position as the third largest in the industry.

The main themes driving ETF asset growth this year have been the "U.S. major indices" and "bonds." KB Asset Management currently manages a total of 109 ETF products, including 32 domestic equity ETFs, 23 overseas equity ETFs, and 26 bond ETFs.

Among them, seven ETFs investing in major overseas indices such as Korea, the U.S., China, Europe, and Hong Kong have consistently gained popularity among investors. In particular, the ETFs tracking the U.S. major indices, ‘US Nasdaq 100’ and ‘US S&P 500,’ have attracted strong interest from individual investors in the U.S. stock market, increasing assets under management by more than 520 billion KRW this year and surpassing a combined net asset value of 1 trillion KRW.

Since listing the country’s first bond ETF, the ‘3-Year Treasury Bond’ ETF, KB Asset Management has solidified its position as a leading bond ETF provider by offering various bond-type ETFs to investors.

The ‘Money Market Active ETF,’ launched for the first time domestically last year, has been recognized as a high-performing parking-type ETF. Its 6-month and 1-year returns are 2.09% and 4.37%, respectively, ranking first among 17 parking-type ETFs. Thanks to this, cumulative net purchases by individuals have exceeded 140 billion KRW since the beginning of the year, with 56.8 billion KRW raised in the past month alone.

The ‘US 30-Year Treasury Bond Yen Exposure’ ETF, which invests in U.S. 30-year Treasury bonds while betting on the undervalued yen appreciation, has grown to a size of about 300 billion KRW, fueled by individual investors’ interest. The net assets of the ‘CD Rate Active’ ETF, listed this year, have exceeded 500 billion KRW.

Additionally, nine ETF products launched this year to meet investors’ needs, including ‘RISE 200 Weekly Covered Call,’ ‘RISE Berkshire Portfolio TOP10,’ and ‘RISE Global Realty Income,’ have also shown remarkable performance.

The ‘RISE 200 Weekly Covered Call,’ launched in March, is the only covered call product in Korea that sells weekly call options on the KOSPI 200. Word of mouth spread that investing 10 million KRW in this product could yield about 1 million KRW in distributions within one month, leading to net assets surpassing 50 billion KRW just over a month after its launch.

Kim Chan-young, Head of the ETF Business Division at KB Asset Management, said, “We are implementing a two-track strategy: operating ‘national representative index-type’ ETFs with low fees for pension investments, and competing with differentiated themes for ‘theme-type products.’ We will continue to strengthen our product lineup to enable various investment strategies and increase our market share.”