Recently, the KOSPI has been hitting record highs day after day, signaling a renewed boom in the domestic stock market. Financial companies that achieved strong results in the first half of the year and emerged as beneficiaries of government policies are attracting investor attention.
On September 22, Samsung Asset Management announced that the net assets of its two ETFs, "KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10 Target Weekly Covered Call" and "KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10," which focus on financial stocks with strong growth prospects, have reached 505.9 billion won and 208.8 billion won, respectively. Their combined net assets have surpassed 700 billion won.
"KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10 Target Weekly Covered Call" exceeded 500 billion won in net assets in just about nine months since its listing in December last year. With a return of 46.8% since the beginning of the year, it ranked first among all covered call ETFs in terms of performance. Individual investors have also accumulated net purchases of 262.4 billion won this year.
The product stands out for its high annual distribution rate of around 15%, the fact that the option premium portion of the distribution is entirely tax-exempt, and its fixed 30% option selling ratio, which allows participation in about 70% of share price increases even during a rising market.
"KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10 Target Weekly Covered Call" selectively invests in 10 financial stocks, including financial holding companies, banks, and securities firms, that have a clear high-dividend policy and meet financial criteria such as return on equity and price-to-book ratio. At the same time, it sells options at a 30% ratio, aiming to provide an annual distribution of around 15%. The 10 stocks included all have a price-to-book ratio (PBR) below 1, fueling expectations tied to the government's corporate value enhancement policies and efforts to resolve the Korea Discount.
"KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10," which was listed in August, surpassed 200 billion won in net assets in just about a month after its listing, demonstrating individual investors' strong preference for financial stocks.
"KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10" shares the same portfolio as the highly popular "KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10 Target Weekly Covered Call," which was listed in December last year, but is designed without the covered call strategy, allowing investors to fully capture gains when stock prices rise. It also offers an expected annual dividend yield of around 6%.
Recently, expectations have been rising for financial stocks due to several factors: the government maintaining the major shareholder capital gains tax threshold at 5 billion won, financial companies' active shareholder return policies, and the introduction of separate taxation on dividend income.
Lee Daehwan, a manager at Samsung Asset Management, stated, "Financial companies are not only delivering strong results but are also actively implementing shareholder return policies such as dividend increases and share buybacks," adding, "Financial stocks have established themselves as representative beneficiaries of high-dividend investment and policy support."
"KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10" is an ETF that pays monthly dividends, distributing on the 15th of each month. Therefore, if investors also hold ETFs like "KODEX Financial High Dividend TOP10 Target Weekly Covered Call," which pay dividends at the end of the month, they can receive dividends twice a month.
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