As the artificial intelligence (AI) industry grows, global electricity demand is rising significantly. The power infrastructure industry is expected to experience rapid growth. With both new and replacement demand for power facilities emerging worldwide, the combined net asset value of two Samsung Asset Management ETFs investing in power infrastructure companies in the United States and South Korea has surpassed 800 billion KRW just one year after their listing.
On July 10, Samsung Asset Management announced that the net asset value of the 'KODEX US AI Power Core Infrastructure' ETF, the first US AI power ETF in Korea, has reached 501.6 billion KRW. The net asset value of 'KODEX AI Power Core Equipment,' which invests in leading Korean power equipment companies, has grown to 320 billion KRW.
Both products, which were simultaneously listed on July 9, 2024, as the first ETFs in the Korean asset management industry to invest in US and Korean AI power infrastructure, are leading the market and attracting investment capital.
The KODEX US AI Power Core Infrastructure ETF selectively invests in 10 leading companies that form the core value chain of the US power infrastructure industry, including power generation, transmission and distribution networks, and data centers. Its portfolio includes companies such as GE Vernova, Constellation Energy, Vistra Energy, Eaton, Arista Networks, and Trane Technologies. As AI becomes more prevalent in daily life, the demand for electricity to support it has surged, and the stock prices of these power infrastructure companies have soared.
From its listing on July 9, 2024, to July 9, 2025, the KODEX US AI Power Core Infrastructure ETF recorded a one-year return of 48.6%. During the same period, it outperformed the Nasdaq 100 Index by approximately 41.4 percentage points (P) and the S&P 500 Index by 40.9P. Within one year of listing, cumulative net purchases by individual investors surpassed 120 billion KRW, reflecting its popularity among retail investors.
Major research institutions are consistently raising their forecasts for US power industry demand. Standard & Poor's (S&P) revised its projection for US data center electricity consumption by 2035 from 200 TWh in February 2024, to 400 TWh in June, and then to 900 TWh in December, steadily raising its estimates.
Kim Chunheung, manager at Samsung Asset Management, said, "Although the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek initially raised some questions about the trend of power demand and AI data center growth, actual demand has continued to increase since then. As investors are shedding their doubts, power demand is expected to keep rising in the second half of the year."
Not only the KODEX US AI Power Core Infrastructure ETF, but also the KODEX AI Power Core Equipment ETF, which invests in leading domestic power equipment companies, is experiencing rapid growth. Within one year of listing, cumulative net purchases by individual investors reached 117.8 billion KRW. Institutional investors, including pension funds, have also shown strong interest, purchasing 42.6 billion KRW this month alone.
The KODEX AI Power Core Equipment ETF has allocated about 60% of its portfolio to Hyosung Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Electric, and LS Electric, known as the "Big 3" in power equipment. It is a product that focuses investment on around 10 core domestic power equipment stocks. With the increase in AI data center construction, it has achieved record-breaking performance. In the first half of this year alone, it recorded a return of 70.3%, attracting significant investment capital.
Growth is expected to continue in the second half of the year. The increase in AI data centers, often called "electricity guzzlers," is driving a surge in new demand for domestic transformer and cable companies with technological and production competitiveness. As seen in the power outage crisis in Europe earlier this year, there is also a global surge in replacement demand for aging power facilities.
Lee Daehwan, manager at Samsung Asset Management, analyzed, "With both new and replacement demand for power facilities occurring simultaneously worldwide, the power equipment supercycle will continue. The influence of these trends is expanding not only in North America but also in Europe, so investor interest in KODEX AI Power Core Equipment is expected to persist in the second half of the year."
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