Samsung Asset, KODEX AI Semiconductor Core Equipment Posts 32% Return Since Early This Year

High Returns in 3 Months from Investments in Domestic Equipment Stocks like Hanmi Semiconductor
Portfolio Related to HBM and On-Device AI

Samsung Asset Management announced on the 28th that the ‘KODEX AI Semiconductor Core Equipment’ ETF, which invests in domestic semiconductor equipment companies, has recorded a return of 31.8% since the beginning of the year.

Listed in November last year, the KODEX AI Semiconductor Core Equipment ETF invests in stocks related to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) equipment and On-Device AI, a next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) theme attracting attention.

The factors driving the rise in stock prices of domestic semiconductor equipment companies include the benefits from HBM led by Nvidia and the anticipation of the blooming On-Device AI era. Domestic semiconductor equipment companies have shown stock price trends aligned with Nvidia. Although they were not recently recognized as beneficiaries of HBM, investor preference is increasing for companies with strengths in the On-Device AI era. The KODEX AI Semiconductor Core Equipment ETF, which has concentrated investments not only in Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading HBM stock, but also in Reno Industrial, a representative On-Device AI stock, achieved a return of 31.8% since the beginning of the year. It showed the highest return among 14 domestic semiconductor ETFs.

Based on its high returns, the KODEX AI Semiconductor Core Equipment ETF continues to attract steady interest from investors, recording net assets of 236.3 billion KRW.

The KODEX AI Semiconductor Core Equipment ETF includes companies with innovative technological capabilities across the entire AI semiconductor process, from front-end to back-end and packaging, such as ▲Hanmi Semiconductor (26.4%), ▲ISC (13.7%), ▲Daeduck Electronics (5.8%), as well as On-Device AI-related equipment stocks like Reno Industrial (17.1%) and HPSP (9.1%). The underlying index tracks the ‘iSelect AI Semiconductor Core Equipment’ and the total expense ratio is 0.39% per annum.

Ma Seung-hyun, a manager at Samsung Asset Management, said, "There is a saying that AI is born in the cloud and blooms at the edge (mobile) level." He added, "As demand for AI technology that operates independently on mobile devices grows, the valuations of related companies are being reassessed, making a strategy focused on investing in these companies effective."

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