Hong Yong-gi, Head of KB Asset ETF Division, "Enduring the Interest Rate Hike Period is the Answer"

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] "The answer is to hold on until the US base interest rate hike is implemented."

Hong Yong-gi, Head of the ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) & AI (Artificial Intelligence) Division at KB Asset Management, stated on the 7th, "At this point, there is no alternative, so long-term outlooks hold little significance for investment." He explained that after the interest rate hike, the market could either enter a recession or act as a new momentum. Therefore, he emphasized that now is the time to observe market trends.

His analysis is based on calculated values derived from the AI investment analysis platform KB-DAM. The ‘AI Insight’ generated by KB-DAM provides forecast trends of major asset indices 20 and 60 days ahead across 24 regions. Additionally, it offers investment outlooks in five stages (Best, Good, Soso, Bad, Worst), which can be referenced to determine investment directions.

The way KB Asset Management creates ETFs is also based on thorough analysis. Instead of selecting a smart theme and including similar stocks, they form products by selecting promising stocks based on stock research and grouping them into a single theme. This allows them to analyze the growth potential of each stock in advance, enabling them to discover promising trends faster than other asset managers and accurately invest in stocks desired by investors. He explained, "This is why we were able to release products investing in places that sparked the theme ETF craze, such as Metaverse and Data Center REITs, earlier than others." He has also completed studying virtual assets. Hong expressed regret, saying, "We just haven't been able to launch them because of regulatory restrictions in Korea, but if there were no institutional regulations, we would have already released differentiated products."

Hong also believes that the recent theme ETF craze needs to be reconsidered. He said, "Last year, the theme ETF craze attracted money and showed high returns, but these are products that take time to produce actual results," adding, "They should be observed with a long-term perspective."

Finally, regarding the introduction of the default option (pre-designated management) for retirement pensions, he stated, "It is regrettable that TDFs were included as an option but passive ETFs were not." He explained, "To achieve stable market average returns with low fees, including at least products that track the KOSPI 200 index could help improve investors' returns."

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