Korea Investment Wall Street Investment Bank Fund 1-Year Return Ranked No. 1

Korea Investment Trust Management announced on the 21st that the Korea Investment Wall Street Investment Bank Fund, which invests in global leading investment banks, ranked first in one-year returns among funds of the same type.

According to FnGuide, as of the 20th, the one-year return of the Korea Investment Wall Street Investment Bank Fund (S-R Class) was 32.29%, ranking first among overseas financial sector funds with assets under management exceeding 10 billion KRW (excluding exchange-traded funds (ETFs)). This figure surpasses the 22.95% return of the U.S. S&P 500 index during the same period.

The fund's returns over the past three years and since inception were recorded at 24.78% and 36.43%, respectively. Recently, expectations have grown that profitability in investment banks will improve following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of financial deregulation. The Korea Investment Wall Street Investment Bank Fund has continued its positive performance with an 8.66% return since the beginning of the year.

Hwang Woo-taek, head of the Global Equity Management Department at Korea Investment Trust Management and the fund's lead portfolio manager, explained, "Previously, due to antitrust regulations, major big tech companies could not pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&A) despite having sufficient cash." He added, "With the Trump administration's financial deregulation, if the M&A market revives, many companies will aggressively pursue M&A, expanding the profits of investment banks."

He also stated, "If capital regulatory requirements are eased, the amount of capital that large banks need to raise will decrease, enabling aggressive investments and lending by large investment banks," and added, "We expect a sharp increase in share buybacks due to enhanced shareholder return capacity."

The Korea Investment Wall Street Investment Bank Fund invests in companies that maintain competitive advantages and lead innovation in the global investment banking industry. Currently, large investment banks dominate most of the market. Their assets and market share have steadily increased, strengthening their position.

According to the official website of Korea Investment Trust Management, as of the 12th, the major holdings of the Korea Investment Wall Street Investment Bank Fund include ▲JPMorgan Chase (5.96%) ▲Goldman Sachs (5.48%) ▲Morgan Stanley (5.45%) ▲Bank of America (5.37%) ▲Banco Santander (5.20%) ▲Wells Fargo (5.16%).

The business of global investment banks, which traditionally focused on areas such as initial public offerings (IPO), M&A, fundraising, and structured finance, has now expanded to include credit cards, high-net-worth asset management, and multi-family lending. In the future, it is expected to digitalize further by acquiring electronic trading platforms or providing AI-based fundraising platforms.

Mr. Hwang said, "From the perspective that the financial industry is a regulated industry, the deregulation by the Trump administration is expected to be a continuously positive event for financial stocks," and added, "As digitalization of industries such as AI and blockchain progresses rapidly, market restructuring centered on large banks will accelerate."

The Korea Investment Wall Street Investment Bank Fund is a performance dividend-type product, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should also be aware that principal loss may occur depending on management outcomes.

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