Shinhan Asset Management's "SOL Korea-Style Global Semiconductor Active" Delivers 28.61% Return Year-to-Date

On February 24, Shinhan Asset Management presented the SOL Korea-Style Global Semiconductor Active Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), which has expanded its allocation to memory and foundry by reflecting the current trends in the semiconductor industry in its portfolio, as a flagship product that can track the flow of the semiconductor market.

Recently, the semiconductor market has seen a surge in demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM) driven by the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), and attention, which had long been focused on non-memory, is now observed to be refocusing on memory. In particular, as the AI inference market enters a full-fledged expansion phase, the infrastructure structure is evolving into a form in which HBM supplies computation data in real time while the graphics processing unit (GPU) performs computations, and large-scale data is stored and retrieved in cost-efficient solid-state drives (SSD). In this process, a structural change is taking place in which GPUs, HBM, and SSDs simultaneously benefit within the value chain.

The SOL Korea-Style Global Semiconductor Active ETF has increased investment concentration on the memory trend by allocating about 45% of its portfolio to the three major memory players: Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. At the same time, as the manufacturing (foundry) value chain, where the United States is relatively weak within the global supply chain, comes into focus, the fund has also concentrated on the "manufacturing competitiveness" axis by allocating about 33% to the two key foundry companies, TSMC and Samsung Electronics.

Looking at the portfolio composition, Samsung Electronics (23.4%), TSMC (20.6%), SK Hynix (14.9%), and Micron (7.5%) together form a structure that includes both memory (leading companies in Korea and the United States) and foundry (the global No. 1 and No. 2 core operators). In addition, the ETF holds Broadcom (6.9%), Nvidia (6.7%), ASML (5.0%), and AMD (3.1%), thereby securing exposure to core companies in the AI semiconductor ecosystem while also pursuing diversification from the perspective of the global semiconductor value chain.

Kim Junghyun, Head of ETF Business at Shinhan Asset Management, said, "Because semiconductors are an industry where the leading sector shifts rapidly depending on the business cycle and changes in the technological paradigm, in periods of trend transition, the composition of portfolio holdings and adjustment of their weights are more important than anything else." He added, "The SOL Korea-Style Global Semiconductor Active ETF focuses on the current core axes of memory (HBM) and foundry (advanced manufacturing), while at the same time encompassing AI accelerators, as well as equipment, measurement, and testing across the value chain, thereby pursuing both trend concentration and value-chain diversification."

The SOL Korea-Style Global Semiconductor Active ETF is an ETF that invests in a diversified basket of domestic and global companies, while using an active strategy to flexibly adjust its holdings and weightings to reflect the latest trends in the semiconductor industry. Since its listing in April 2022 through the present (as of the 23rd), its cumulative return has reached 314.12%, with returns of 8.78% over the past one month, 44.91% over three months, and 28.61% year-to-date.

Kim added, "We will continue to respond to market movements so that investors can gain exposure to core companies through active stock selection and rebalancing in line with changes in semiconductor trends."