Transparent Distribution Policy Announced After Transition from TR to PR Method
Quarterly Distributions from July This Year to January 2029
Dividends that had previously been retained and reinvested will be paid out additionally starting in the second half of this year. This decision was made to establish and transparently implement a future distribution policy after converting the ETFs from the existing automatic reinvestment (TR, Total Return) method to a distribution payment (PR, Price Return) method. Samsung Asset Management is the first to disclose a distribution policy after converting from TR to PR.
Samsung Asset Management decided to pay out the retained dividends accumulated over 15 quarters until the end of last year, when the two products listed in April 2021 were operated under the TR method, as distributions over 15 quarters from July 2025 to January 2029.
TR ETFs are products that automatically reinvest all earnings, including dividends, generated during the holding period, without making distributions. According to the amended Enforcement Decree of the Income Tax Act announced earlier by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, starting in July 2025, dividends generated from overseas equity-type TR ETFs must be settled and distributed at least once a year. Due to this change in government policy, the TR structure can no longer be maintained. Samsung Asset Management, which has managed the two US major index ETFs under the TR method from their listing until now, converted these products to the PR type in January 2025.
According to Samsung Asset Management’s distribution payment policy, retained dividends will be paid to investors holding these ETFs on the second business day of the following month after the last business day of January, April, July, and October each year. For this year, investors holding the ETFs on July 31 and October 31 will receive the basic distribution plus the distribution for retained dividends on August 4 and November 4, respectively. The retained dividend distribution rate for KODEX US S&P500 is set at approximately 0.27% of the NAV for the distribution quarter, and for KODEX US Nasdaq100, it is set at approximately 0.14%.
Lim Taehyuk, Head of ETF Management at Samsung Asset Management, stated, “After the announcement of the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Income Tax Act, we received many inquiries from investors regarding the distribution method, so we have been considering the distribution payment method from various perspectives together with law firms and tax firms.” He added, “We have decided to return the dividends that have been reinvested within the fund since listing to investors over a total of 15 quarterly payments starting from the second half of this year.”
He further stated, “Samsung Asset Management will continue to make decisions from the investor’s perspective and ensure that investors can invest with peace of mind through transparent communication.”
Separately from the retained dividends, Samsung Asset Management will also pay the first distribution resulting from the conversion to the distribution type. The company also disclosed the basic distribution policy for the quarterly dividends accumulated by the two US major index ETFs. The record dates for dividends are the last business days of January, April, July, and October each year, and the distributions are paid on the second business day of the following month.
The distribution source is the dividends accrued from stocks held by the fund that have dividend rights during the three months prior to the reference month. Based on the dividends accrued from January to March 2025, on May 7, Samsung Asset Management will pay 56 KRW per share for KODEX US S&P500 and 33 KRW per share for KODEX US Nasdaq100 as distributions. Starting in July, the distribution for retained dividends will be added to the basic distribution and paid to customers.
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