Hanwha Asset Management is expanding its presence in the global exchange-traded fund (ETF) market with its proprietary investment strategies and indices. Following its Korea defense-themed ETF listed on the New York Stock Exchange surpassing 1 trillion won in net assets, a new ETF investing in Korea's core manufacturing sector is set to debut in New York in the first half of this year.
Hanwha Asset Management announced on January 6 that it held an investment seminar for Hong Kong high-net-worth individuals on January 5 to share its global strategy. Co-hosted with Hong Kong-based CSOP Asset Management, the event attracted about 40 high-net-worth investors, including family office representatives managing more than $1 billion in assets. Industry observers noted it was unusual for investors from Hong Kong, Asia's financial hub, to visit Korea directly to learn about investment strategies.
"The U.S.-China-centered bloc confrontation will be the new normal that continues for decades to come," Choi Young-jin, Executive Vice President of Hanwha Asset Management, said at the event. "We need to focus on four investment pillars: defense, artificial intelligence, resources and power, and digital assets."
Hanwha Asset Management's flagship product, the PLUS K-Defense ETF, recorded a return of 177.74% last year in Korea, with net assets exceeding 1 trillion won. The defense ETF listed in the U.S. market, which uses this index as its benchmark, recently surpassed $140 million (approximately 205.4 billion won) in net assets. The product is managed by U.S. asset manager Exchange Traded Concepts (ETC) and is traded on the NYSE.
The ETF showed rapid growth, ranking first in returns among U.S. ETFs (excluding leveraged and inverse products) in the first half of the year, just four months after listing. Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, said, "A 100% gain in just over four months since launch is an exceptional performance." The strong results are attributed to it being the only product in the U.S. that allows concentrated investment across Korea's entire defense industry.
Hanwha Asset Management is also preparing follow-up strategies to expand its financial exports. The company has completed development of a new index investing in Korea's core manufacturing companies and plans to list an ETF tracking this index on the NYSE in the first half of this year.
"The global success of 'PLUS K-Defense' demonstrates that Korean asset managers' investment capabilities are recognized in the world market," Executive Vice President Choi said. "As a leader in K-finance exports, we will continue to introduce various strategic products to the global market."