About 25 Percentage Points of Outperformance vs. Underlying Index
Hyundai Motor Group Added Just Before "CES 2026"
Hanwha Asset Management announced on the 26th that the net asset value (NAV) of its PLUS Global Humanoid Robot Active exchange-traded fund (ETF) has surpassed 100 billion won.
According to financial information provider FnGuide, the PLUS Global Humanoid Robot Active ETF recorded a net asset value of 108.9 billion won as of market close on the 25th. Based on NAV as of the 24th, the period returns were 17.9% year-to-date, 38.2% over three months, and 78.8% over six months.
The active management strategy has paid off. PLUS Global Humanoid Robot Active is the only actively managed product among humanoid robot ETFs listed in Korea. As the robot industry is still in the early stages of growth, there is substantial room to generate excess returns through active management, including discovering new stocks, immediately adding newly listed IPO companies, and adjusting weightings in response to shifts in competitive advantages.
Since its listing on April 15 last year, the ETF has delivered a return of 111.3%, outperforming its underlying index (86.2%) by about 25 percentage points through active management. This is also the highest return among similar humanoid robot-themed products that were listed simultaneously on the same day.
In particular, from last December, just before the world's largest IT and home appliance exhibition, CES 2026, the fund preemptively added Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis and other Hyundai Motor Group companies, which significantly boosted performance. Atlas, the humanoid robot unveiled by Boston Dynamics, Hyundai Motor's robotics subsidiary, at CES 2026, sharply drove up the share prices of Hyundai Motor and other companies related to humanoid robots.
Park Chanwoo, manager of the PLUS Global Humanoid Robot Active ETF, said, "The humanoid robot industry has only just entered its nascent stage, and because industry trends are changing very rapidly, it is important to reflect these rapidly shifting trends in a timely manner," adding, "We viewed CES 2026 as a turning point for a valuation re-rating of the robot sector led by Hyundai Motor, and incorporating this view into the portfolio led to strong results."
A broad-based investment across the entire humanoid robot industry is also a strength. In addition to leading humanoid robot companies such as Tesla in the United States and Rainbow Robotics in Korea, about 70% of the portfolio is allocated to key component manufacturers around the world, including those producing actuators and sensors. Representative holdings include Robotis in Korea, Teledyne in the United States, and Nidec and Nabtesco in Japan.
Kim Jeongseop, head of the ETF Business Division at Hanwha Asset Management, said, "In humanoid robots, core components such as actuators and sensors account for about 66% of the total production cost of a robot, so this is an area where we can generate significant excess returns by including component manufacturers," and added, "The fact that we selectively hold only key component stocks from around the world, which are difficult for individual investors to discover on their own, will make a major contribution to future performance as well."
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