As the domestic stock market continues a daily rally, overseas investors are also focusing on the domestic market. Accordingly, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to Korea's benchmark indexes and to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are set to be listed one after another on overseas markets such as Hong Kong and the United States.
According to the financial investment industry on the 25th, Hong Kong-based asset manager CSOP Asset Management plans to push for the listing of a "KOSPI 200" ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the second half of this year.
The KOSPI 200 is an index centered on large-cap stocks on Korea's main board. This will be the first time an ETF tracking Korea's benchmark indexes such as the KOSPI 200 has been listed on the Hong Kong market.
Hong Kong currently has one leveraged ETF each for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and a Samsung Electronics "geared inverse (inverse leverage)" ETF listed.
The leveraged ETFs for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have been very popular since they were listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last year. Their net worth currently stands at 2.4 trillion won and 7.9 trillion won, respectively.
In the securities industry, there are expectations that the launch of a KOSPI 200 ETF, a benchmark index, will further improve global investors' access to the Korean stock market.
Im Eun-hye, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said of the background for the launch, "Previously, investment centered on MSCI Korea, but the introduction of a KOSPI 200 ETF is expected to improve global investors' access to the Korean stock market," noting, "It is increasingly likely that demand for Korean investments will expand, centered on Hong Kong pension funds and institutions."
In the United States, double-leveraged ETFs for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are being prepared. Leveraged Shares, a leveraged specialist asset manager, recently filed listing applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for leveraged ETFs that hold Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
This product tracks at 2 times the memory "Roundhill Memory" ETF that was listed in the United States last month. As of the 21st, Roundhill, a memory-stock ETF, includes Samsung Electronics and SK hynix at weights of 27.63% and 20.73%, respectively. It also holds Micron and SanDisk, but Samsung Electronics and SK hynix account for nearly half.
If these ETFs are launched in Hong Kong and the United States, the number of overseas market products that hold Korea's benchmark indexes and Korean corporations will increase from four to six.