[Provided by Samsung Asset Management]
[Provided by Samsung Asset Management]

Samsung Asset Management said Tuesday that its KODEX US CPU Semiconductor TOP10 ETF posted a return of 10.35% in its first week since listing.

The KODEX US CPU Semiconductor TOP10 is an ETF designed to concentrate investment in central processing unit (CPU) companies emerging as a core pillar of the global AI industry. It was built to capitalize on the global CPU supply shortage by investing in leading CPU firms and companies across the related value chain.

The fund currently allocates more than 75% of its holdings to the world's top CPU companies — ARM (27.09%), Intel (26.91%) and AMD (23.77%) — the largest combined weighting of those three US semiconductor firms among CPU ETFs listed in South Korea. Additional holdings include Marvell Technology, Qualcomm, Navitas Semiconductor and Cadence Design Systems, among other companies in the CPU value chain.

Recent earnings releases from the three CPU majors have underscored the sector's growth potential. Intel reported data center and AI segment sales of $6.3 billion, up 59% from a year earlier, while its operating profit margin more than doubled over the same period, rising from 16.1% to 39.5%.

ARM saw data center royalties more than double year on year, driving record quarterly sales of $1.29 billion. AMD, which reported earnings Tuesday, posted data center sales of $6.7 billion — a 107% surge that accounted for 58% of total revenue. All three companies beat market expectations.

The fund tracks the Indxx US CPU Semiconductor TOP10 index, which selects 10 stocks from US-listed common shares or American depositary receipts with a market capitalization of at least $10 billion and average daily trading volume of at least $10 million over the preceding three months.

"In the age of AI agents, CPUs — which orchestrate entire systems and control data and workflow — will play an increasingly central role," said Kim Cheon-heung, a fund manager at Samsung Asset Management. "Demand to secure a position in that space is expected to keep growing."

Samsung Asset Management recently revamped its ETF and fund platform, FunETF, expanding it into a global investment platform that covers US-listed ETFs in addition to domestic products. Users can now access detailed information on more than 5,500 US-listed ETFs alongside the roughly 1,140 ETFs listed in South Korea.


jiyun@heraldcorp.com