[Practical Finance] "Please Give This Year's Sebaetdon as a Fund"

Domestic and International Fund Investment Trends

Direct Investment Heat Cools in Range-Bound Stock Market
Investment Difficulty Rises Due to Major Countries' Tightening and Supply Chain Collapse

Public Fund Net Assets Up 16% from Last Year
Theme Funds Like Electric Vehicles and ESG Gain Popularity

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Mina Kim (35), a mother of two, started investing in domestic blue-chip stocks last year with the New Year's money her in-laws gave her children, but did not see much profit. Although direct investment is the trend and she wanted to save stocks for her children, the increasing volatility of the stock market also increased her worries. This year, she wants to switch to funds to pay less attention, but choosing a fund that yields stable and high returns is not easy.

It is expected that more people like Ms. Kim will invest in funds with New Year's money this year. Last year, as the stock market was trapped in a box range, enthusiasm for direct investment declined, and in a difficult stock market environment due to major countries' shift to tightening and global supply chain disruptions, demand for achieving stable performance is expected to increase.

◆‘Public Offering Funds’ Attracting Capital= Funds are already attracting capital. Investing New Year's money according to major capital flows is also a good investment method.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on the 5th, as of the 3rd, the total net asset value of all public offering funds exceeded 300 trillion won, reaching 313.3668 trillion won. This is a 16% increase compared to 268.9 trillion won on the same day last year.

In particular, money is flowing into thematic funds such as electric vehicles and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). When divided into global and domestic funds depending on the investment destination, interest in the global market is slightly higher. The fund that raised the most capital is the ‘Korea Investment Global Electric Vehicle & Battery Fund,’ which invests in global electric vehicle and battery-related companies, attracting 657.3 billion won. This fund invests in Tesla (5.73%), Nvidia (4%), Alphabet (2.93%), Apple (2.8%), among others. Funds investing in global tech stocks such as ‘Fidelity Global Technology Fund’ (304.1 billion won), ‘Multi-Asset Global Clean Energy Fund’ (159.7 billion won), and ‘Schroder Global Sustainability Growth Fund’ (145.8 billion won) also attracted capital.

Among domestic investment funds, the ‘Kiwoom Next Generation Mobility Fund’ (164.5 billion won), which focuses on Hyundai Motor Group, and the ‘NH-Amundi 100-Year Company Green Korea Fund’ (160.7 billion won), which invests in domestic companies with high ESG scores, attracted significant capital.

Recently, investment inflows have also been prominent in the Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) market, which holds at least 10 or more stocks and has the characteristics of a fund but can be traded like stocks. The most purchased fund was ‘TIGER China Electric Vehicle SOLACTIVE,’ with a net purchase of 2.4717 trillion won. This product includes Chinese electric vehicle and supply chain-related companies listed on U.S. exchanges such as BYD (7%), CATL (7%), and Eve Energy (2%). Other popular ETFs include TIGER U.S. Tech TOP10 INDEX (815.6 billion won), TIGER U.S. Philadelphia Semiconductor (697.9 billion won), TIGER Global Lithium & Secondary Battery (610.7 billion won), and TIGER U.S. Nasdaq 100 (474.1 billion won).

◆Which Funds Have High Returns?= Fund returns have already surpassed the KOSPI returns. As of the previous day, the performance of 931 domestic equity funds over the past year was 6.56%, significantly outperforming the KOSPI 200’s one-year performance of -1.12% during the same period.

In particular, overseas equity funds achieved a 13.37% return. Among individual funds, those investing in the Vietnamese and Indian stock markets showed outstanding returns. The ‘Samsung Vietnam Fund’ recorded the highest return of 82.18% among all funds. Following were ‘NH-Amundi Vietnam Leverage Fund’ (77.47%), ‘HDC Vietnam Fund’ (76.86%), and ‘Samsung India Small & Mid Cap FOCUS’ (70.2%).

Hu-jeong Kim, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, said, "Vietnam’s stock market showed strength due to the activation of foreign investment and abundant liquidity, securing the top fund positions. In the case of Indian funds, global investment increased amid rising China risks, and the economy recorded growth for four consecutive quarters, resulting in high performance."

◆Metaverse Also Through Funds= Parents interested in investing in the recently popular metaverse and NFT (Non-Fungible Token) may consider reducing risk through funds. Over the past year, funds such as ‘KBSTAR Game Theme ETF’ (69.77%), ‘Mirae Asset TIGER K Game Securities Listed Index Investment Trust’ (69.6%), and ‘Mirae Asset TIGER Media Content ETF’ (67.57%) recorded high returns.

An official from a fund management company said, "Although themes that attracted investors’ attention last year received high valuations, we expect these themes to remain in focus this year as well. Therefore, it is advisable to invest stably through funds with portfolios constructed by experts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.