Samsung Asset Management "KODEX US Semiconductor MV, Individual Investors Bought 150 Billion KRW This Year"

The AI semiconductor boom, including Nvidia, is translating into differentiated returns, leading to concentrated buying by individual investors in U.S. semiconductor ETFs.

Samsung Asset Management announced on the 19th that the net purchase amount by individual investors in the ‘KODEX U.S. Semiconductor MV ETF’ this year has exceeded 150 billion KRW, the largest among semiconductor ETFs. The net asset size also approached 500 billion KRW, reaching 496.3 billion KRW.

Samsung Asset Management analyzed that the reason individual investors have been focusing on buying this product this year is due to the differentiated returns shown by KODEX U.S. Semiconductor MV. In fact, this product has recorded a return of 65.9% since the beginning of the year and 93.2% over one year, ranking first among all ETFs. Its one-year return shows a gap of at least 8 percentage points compared to other general semiconductor ETFs (excluding leveraged ones).

As it has recorded such differentiated high returns, the inflow of funds from individual investors accelerated this year. The net purchase amount by individual investors in KODEX U.S. Semiconductor MV this year was 159.5 billion KRW, the highest among domestically listed semiconductor ETFs. The total cumulative net purchase by individuals also increased more than threefold in about six months, from 51.6 billion KRW at the end of last year to 211 billion KRW as of the 18th.

The reason individual investors have concentrated their net purchases on KODEX U.S. Semiconductor MV this year is analyzed to be because it is known that the underlying index of this product, the MV Semiconductor Index, composes a portfolio that can most clearly benefit from the AI semiconductor sector leading the U.S. stock market.

In fact, KODEX U.S. Semiconductor MV maintains a high investment weight of about 25.08% in Nvidia, which is leading the AI semiconductor industry, among 33 general semiconductor ETFs listed domestically. Additionally, it includes Broadcom (8.51%), which supplies ASIC (application-specific) semiconductors, a core of AI semiconductors; Qualcomm (4.99%), a key player in on-device AI; and TSMC (12.74%), the largest foundry company producing all these semiconductors, at the top. It also has a balanced semiconductor portfolio including core semiconductor equipment companies such as ASML and Applied Materials, and oligopoly companies in semiconductor design software (EDA) like Cadence and Synopsys.

This product uses the same underlying MV Semiconductor Index as SMH (VanEck Semiconductor ETF), the largest U.S. semiconductor ETF with about 27 trillion KRW in assets, and this index is evaluated to quickly reflect trends in the semiconductor industry. Using a methodology that allows investing up to 20% in leading stocks, it shows differentiated performance that significantly outperforms another U.S. semiconductor index, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX). The MV Semiconductor Index recorded returns of 58.67% since the beginning of the year, 83.09% over one year, and 132.34% over three years, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index showed 38.65%, 59.77%, and 89.95% respectively, with the one-year return outperforming by 23.32 percentage points, showing an increasing return gap over time.

Han Dong-hoon, a manager at Samsung Asset Management, said, “As investors’ interest is focused on the semiconductor industry, the biggest beneficiary of AI including Nvidia, KODEX U.S. Semiconductor MV is continuously recording differentiated short- and long-term returns, leading to an expanding buying trend among individual investors. Since it tracks the MV Semiconductor Index, which can actively respond to changes in the semiconductor industry, KODEX U.S. Semiconductor MV will be a good investment product for active investors who want to not miss AI semiconductor leading companies while preparing for trend changes in the next-generation semiconductor industry.”

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