Korea Investment Management announced Tuesday that total net assets of its ACE exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have exceeded 30 trillion won.
According to Korea Exchange data as of January 27, combined net assets of 105 ACE ETFs reached 30.0486 trillion won. This represents growth of more than 50% in just five months, following the achievement of 20 trillion won in net assets across 100 ETFs at the end of September last year.
Technology stock ETFs are driving ACE ETF growth. In the five months since surpassing 20 trillion won, the ACE Google Value Chain Active fund, which invests in overseas tech stocks, and the ACE AI Semiconductor Focus fund, which targets domestic tech stocks, saw net asset growth of 604.34% and 638.58%, respectively.
Analysts note that technology ETFs establishing themselves as large-scale products has also served as a key growth driver. During this period, both the ACE Global Semiconductor TOP4 Plus ETF and the ACE US Big Tech TOP7 Plus ETF each surpassed 1 trillion won in net assets, contributing to overall growth. The ACE Global Semiconductor TOP4 Plus ETF has notably recorded returns of 529.46% since listing, the highest performance among domestically listed semiconductor ETFs.
Amid a bullish domestic stock market, the ACE KOSDAQ150 and ACE 200 also showed remarkable growth. The ACE KOSDAQ150, which has the lowest annual total expense ratio, synthetic total expense ratio, and actual cost burden among domestically listed KOSDAQ150 ETFs, saw net assets surge 959.93% during this period. The ACE 200, which has one of the lowest annual total expense ratios (0.017%) among KOSPI200 ETFs, also saw net assets increase 150.57%, surpassing 1 trillion won.
Market volatility continued to drive steady demand for safe-haven ETFs. The ACE US 10-Year Treasury Active (H) and ACE US 10-Year Treasury Active funds saw net asset increases of 466.93% and 237.70%, respectively. The ACE KRX Gold Spot ETF, which recorded nearly 250 billion won in net retail purchases in January alone, surpassed 5 trillion won in net assets.
"ACE ETF has consistently expanded its technology-focused lineup based on our investment philosophy that 'long-term investment should be made where there is future growth potential,'" said Nam Yong-soo, Head of ETF Management at Korea Investment Management. "Given that artificial intelligence remains a megatrend, we will continue to launch domestic and international products centered on AI, as well as derivative products."