226 days after crossing 100 trillion won last October; ETF market share at 40% with 37 funds in the 1-trillion-won club
Samsung Asset Management's KODEX exchange-traded fund lineup has become the first in the Korean asset management industry to surpass 200 trillion won (approximately $132 billion) in net assets.
According to Samsung Asset Management, total net assets in the KODEX ETF range stood at 201.4589 trillion won as of May 29.
The milestone marks a doubling in size in just 226 days since the fund family crossed 100 trillion won on Oct. 15 last year — making it the largest ETF manager in Korea and No. 1 in Asia, excluding Japan, according to ETFGI.
The KODEX lineup has grown steadily since the launch of KODEX 200 — Korea's first ETF — in 2002. Net assets crossed 10 trillion won on June 28, 2013, 20 trillion won on Jan. 24, 2018, and 30 trillion won on May 10, 2021. After surpassing 50 trillion won on Jan. 29, 2024, growth accelerated sharply, with the 100 trillion won and 200 trillion won thresholds falling in rapid succession.
The KODEX lineup now spans 236 ETFs and holds roughly 40 percent of the domestic ETF market. Strong demand for domestic and U.S. benchmark index funds, thematic products, monthly distribution funds, and leveraged and inverse products has driven robust inflows as equity markets have repeatedly set record highs.
Samsung Asset Management attributed the 200 trillion won milestone largely to consistent buying by retail investors. Of the 47.7 trillion won that retail investors poured into ETFs since the start of this year, 43 percent — or 20.6 trillion won — flowed into KODEX products. KODEX 200 alone attracted 2.5 trillion won in net retail purchases since January, making it the top retail net-buy ETF of the year.
Returns have also been strong. KODEX 200 has gained 122.9 percent since the start of this year, while KODEX Leverage has surged 326.8 percent. KODEX Semiconductor returned 162.9 percent and KODEX Semiconductor Leverage 450.0 percent, with KODEX AI Semiconductor TOP2 Plus posting a 200.3 percent gain. Among power-sector products, KODEX AI Power Core Infrastructure rose 107.2 percent and KODEX US AI Power Core Infrastructure advanced 56.4 percent.
Newly launched products have also performed well. Since crossing the 100 trillion won mark, Samsung Asset Management has listed 17 new ETFs — more than any other manager in the industry — and 13 of them have already grown their net assets above 100 billion won. KODEX Samsung Electronics SK Hynix Bond Mixed 50 has surpassed 1 trillion won in net assets, while anticipation of a SpaceX listing has helped KODEX US Space & Aerospace top 800 billion won and KODEX US AI Optical Network exceed 500 billion won.
KODEX holds more funds in the 1-trillion-won club than any other manager in the industry, with 37 such products in total. The number of KODEX ETFs with net assets above 5 trillion won has grown to 10.
"We worked to provide the best solutions for retail, foreign and institutional investors to access domestic and overseas investment opportunities easily and quickly, and that effort allowed KODEX ETFs to set the milestone of becoming the first in Korea to reach 200 trillion won in net assets," Samsung Asset Management said. "Going forward, we will continue to manage listed ETFs with rigor and safety while supplying innovative products that contribute to growing the wealth of the public and advancing Korea's capital markets."
By Jung Yoon-hee
yuni@heraldcorp.com
