The surge in artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled a significant rise in the South Korean stock market this year.
CSOP Asset Management has launched a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the KOSPI 200 Index, offering investors a way to gain long-term exposure to the Korean market without the risks associated with leveraged products.
It has been confirmed that the CSOP KOSPI 200 Index ETF (03121) will begin trading on June 18, with a board lot size of 100 units, an initial investment threshold of approximately 780 Hong Kong dollars, and an annual management fee of 0.99%.
This launch follows CSOP's previous introductions of double-leverage products tracking individual Korean giants Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc and represents its latest offering tied to the Korean equity market.
The KOSPI 200 Index has climbed 11.3% year-to-date.
In a media interview, Wang Zhuofeng, Managing Director and Head of Sales (Asia Pacific) at CSOP Asset Management, noted that while leveraged products on Samsung and SK Hynix already exist, the KOSPI index includes many companies within the AI infrastructure supply chain, such as Samsung SDI Co Ltd and Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co Ltd, which are typically difficult for foreign retail investors to access directly.
The new index ETF aims to provide general investors with a pathway to invest in Korean stocks as a core AI strategy.
Wang pointed out that the onset of an AI super-cycle is the primary catalyst driving the Korean market upward.
The explosive growth in chip demand, coupled with rising prices for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), is creating substantial opportunities for Korea's semiconductor sector.
Despite the KOSPI 200's strong performance this year, he believes the market is "not overheated and valuations remain reasonable," as Korean companies are established leaders in the memory chip field, not newcomers.
He stated, "The forward price-to-earnings ratio for the KOSPI 200 Index is currently 9.02 times, still significantly lower than the S&P 500's 22.39 times.
Strong earnings growth provides solid support for the market's rise, and the valuation discount suggests Korean stocks still possess considerable upside potential."
Wang added that Korean equities have long been undervalued, consistently trading at a discount within the tech sector, with relatively low participation from overseas investors.
However, this year has seen foreign capital gradually increasing its allocation to Korean stocks, a trend he attributes to global investor optimism about AI development.
He understands that institutional investors and high-net-worth clients are seeking exposure not just to individual Korean stocks but also to broad market indices.
Consequently, the initial investors for the CSOP KOSPI 200 Index ETF are primarily Asian institutional investors.
"U.S. AI stocks remain the global mainstream, but recently, more and more investors are participating in both U.S. and Korean AI stocks, creating a situation of 'trading Korean stocks in the morning and U.S. stocks in the evening'," he remarked.
Net inflows into Korea-themed Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) have skyrocketed in recent years, reaching a record high of $31.89 billion in 2025.
Remarkably, the inflow in the first five months of this year alone has nearly matched the total for all of 2025.
With reports suggesting SK Hynix Inc plans a Nasdaq listing in August, Wang believes a U.S. listing would help align its valuation more closely with international peers like SanDisk (SNDK.US) and Micron Technology Inc (MU.US).
Given that SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd together account for approximately 60% of the KOSPI 200 Index's weighting, investing in the CSOP KOSPI 200 Index ETF is largely equivalent to expressing a positive outlook on these two companies.
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