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Spots are limited, so those who act slowly will miss out. Let us join together for the appointment with sustainability! [Click to register] A top-performing fund manager in South Korea said that once the market rebounds, component stocks in the AI value chain with promising earnings prospects may outperform large memory chipmakers.
Lee Wang-seop, head of the equity investment division at Hana Asset Management, said in an interview this week that as the AI boom spreads to more parts of the industrial chain, capacitor makers and AI packaging substrate producers are expected to benefit next year. He is also bullish on renewable energy and energy storage suppliers, expecting demand for data center services to continue. The fund he manages has achieved a return of 77% so far this year, outperforming 99% of peers, with assets of about 748 billion won. Its major holdings include capacitor maker Samsung Electro-Mechanics and lithium battery supplier Samsung SDI.
Beyond semiconductors, "we have expanded our investment scope to other areas of the AI industry chain," Lee said. "We focus on the intersection of two areas: first, industries whose earnings growth exceeds that of South Korea's Kospi index, and second, companies whose earnings expectations are also being revised upward."
The South Korean stock market is highly dependent on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. As investors rush to withdraw from previously high-flying AI-related holdings, the Kospi fell into a bear market on Thursday. Lee's strategy reflects how fund managers are shifting their focus away from these two companies toward other parts of the AI supply chain in order to capture related upside opportunities.
Lee expects that when the market rebounds, semiconductor materials, components, and equipment stocks will outperform large memory chipmakers. He also said that several industries, including energy storage suppliers, are expected to post net profit growth next year that exceeds the overall level of Kospi constituents.
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