Korea Investment US Dividend Aristocrats Fund Series Surpasses 500 Billion KRW in Assets Under Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Korea Investment Trust Management announced on the 13th that the assets under management of the 'Korea Investment US Dividend Aristocrats Fund' series, which invests in US dividend growth stocks that have increased dividends for 25 consecutive years, have surpassed 500 billion KRW.

According to the fund rating company FnGuide, the assets under management of the 'Korea Investment US Dividend Aristocrats Fund' increased by 139.9 billion KRW since the beginning of the year, reaching 501.8 billion KRW as of the 12th. This fund series has attracted the largest amount of funds among dividend stock funds established domestically this year.

The 'Korea Investment US Dividend Aristocrats Fund' is an index fund that tracks the Standard & Poor's (S&P) Dividend Aristocrats index. The S&P Dividend Aristocrats index consists of S&P 500 index components that have increased dividends for 25 consecutive years, have a market capitalization of over 3 billion USD, and have a 3-month average daily trading volume exceeding 5 million USD.

The fund's strength lies in investing in companies with solid fundamentals that have been able to increase dividends for more than 25 years, attracting investors' attention amid recent volatile market conditions. The fund mainly invests in cyclical sectors such as consumer goods, which are expected to see profit growth due to the 'post-COVID' effect, which is also cited as a factor for capital inflow.

The fund's major investment sectors are consumer staples (22.7%), industrials (18.7%), materials (12.8%), healthcare (11.3%), and financials (10.3%) (based on the index as of the end of April). Representative stocks in the index include steelmaker Nucor, food company Archer Daniels Midland, energy companies Chevron and ExxonMobil, and medical products company Cardinal Health. The investment proportion in information technology (IT) and communication sectors, which show high volatility during interest rate hikes, is lower than the market average.

The 'Korea Investment US Dividend Aristocrats Fund' series is available in equity, equity hybrid, and bond hybrid types. The equity type is further divided into H type with currency hedging, UH type without currency hedging, and USD type investing in US dollars, providing investors with a wide range of choices.

According to FnGuide, as of the 12th, the recent 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year returns of the USD type A class of this fund are 2.55%, 2.41%, and 11.12%, respectively. The cumulative return since inception (March 2, 2021) is 26.44%. The H type A class also demonstrated mid- to long-term investment appeal with a return of 40.70% since inception (April 21, 2020).

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