Samsung Asset Management announced on the 9th that its KODEX Shareholder Return High Dividend ETF surpassed 100 billion won ($71 million) in net assets just three weeks after listing.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KODEX Shareholder Return High Dividend ETF attracted approximately 28.8 billion won in net purchases from individual investors within three days of listing, quickly selling out the initial 26 billion won allocation set at launch. Individual investors continued net buying for 14 consecutive trading days from the first day of listing.
The KODEX Shareholder Return High Dividend ETF moves beyond the conventional approach of simply holding stocks with high dividend yields, selectively investing in beneficiaries of the government's new shareholder return policies, including tax reform and commercial law amendments. The product is a high-dividend strategy that reflects the core elements of Korea's shareholder return policies: high dividends, mandatory treasury stock cancellation, and capital reduction dividends.
The specific inclusion criteria require companies whose cash dividends have not decreased year-over-year. From this pool, only companies with dividend payout ratios of 40% or higher, or those with payout ratios of at least 25% that increased dividends by more than 10% compared to the previous year, are eligible for inclusion. Among companies meeting these criteria, the top 30 stocks with the highest shareholder return yields are selected for the portfolio.
Post-listing performance has been strong. The KODEX Shareholder Return High Dividend ETF has risen approximately 8.1% since listing, outperforming the KOSPI index by 4.3 percentage points over the same period.
The product implements "mid-month dividends" with a payment record date of the 15th of each month. When invested alongside typical monthly dividend ETFs that pay at month-end, investors can establish a structure to receive dividends twice per month.
"As companies continue to announce strengthened shareholder return policies in line with the government's efforts to revitalize the stock market, expectations are growing that undervaluation in the domestic market will be resolved and structural growth will be driven," said Moon Hyun-wook, manager at Samsung Asset Management. "With the money move effect toward dividend stocks, a strategy of selective investment in high-dividend stocks will be more important than ever."