Korea Investment Management's K-Index & Theme Rotation Fund Surpasses 50 Billion Won in Assets

Korea Investment Management announced on May 14 that the total assets under management for the ‘Korea Investment K-Index & Theme Rotation Fund’ have surpassed 50 billion won. Launched in early March, the fund has rapidly attracted capital, driven by its outstanding performance, including a cumulative return of 54.6% in just about three months.

According to fund evaluation firm FnGuide, as of May 13, the fund’s total assets under management stood at 50.8 billion won, and as of May 14, that figure had increased to 59.8 billion won, reflecting steep growth.

The fund’s performance is also noteworthy. The Korea Investment K-Index & Theme Rotation Fund (A Class), established in early March, achieved a cumulative return of 54.6% in approximately three months. The entire class posted an average return of 41.47% over the past month.

This product is a public fund that builds a portfolio of K-Growth theme ETFs designed to outperform Korea’s major indices. Based on the KOSPI200 Index, it flexibly increases allocations to themes with strong upside potential, aiming for excess returns over the broader market. Even during periods of high volatility in March, when the KOSPI200 Index fell by more than 5%, the fund generated excess returns of over 1% relative to the index, demonstrating robust downside protection. In the bullish market of April, all five themes with concentrated investment—such as artificial intelligence (AI) power infrastructure, network infrastructure, and renewable energy—achieved returns at least 7% higher than the index. Among these, the AI power infrastructure theme delivered a return exceeding 46.7% above the index.

Such results are attributed to Korea Investment Management’s ‘momentum rotation’ strategy. The momentum strategy is a trend-following approach that seeks profits by continually buying stocks that have risen (or selling those that have fallen) over a certain period. Indicators used to assess momentum include stock price, return relative to volatility, return relative to maximum drawdown (MDD), and overheating indices.

The fund reduces volatility risks associated with focusing on a single theme by selecting ETFs that lead the market, and rebalances its portfolio every month. At the end of March, it decreased exposure to the KOSDAQ150 and added renewable energy and nuclear power theme ETFs in April. By the end of April, it shifted from nuclear power themes to place Samsung Electronics and SK hynix at the top of the portfolio, capturing the recent trend toward large-cap semiconductor stocks.

Cha Hyemin, the portfolio manager of the Global Quantitative Investment Division at Korea Investment Management, said, “The Korea Investment K-Index & Theme Rotation Fund is designed to deliver alpha by selecting and overweighting themes that are stronger than the index using both short- and long-term momentum indicators. It will help investors by alleviating the burden of theme selection and trading timing.”

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