Retail investors' net purchases of SOL US Dividend Dow Jones ETF top W500b

Shinhan Asset Management said Tuesday that cumulative net purchases by retail investors in its SOL US Dividend Dow Jones ETF have surpassed 500 billion won ($372 million).

According to Korea Exchange data as of Wednesday, cumulative retail net purchases of the SOL US Dividend Dow Jones ETF since its listing totaled 501.4 billion won. Net assets stood at 1.01 trillion won.

Retail investors net-bought 12.3 billion won worth of the ETF over the past month alone. Although net assets fell by about 44.1 billion won during the same period due to market price adjustments, retail buying continued. Shinhan Asset Management attributed the sustained demand to investors seeking steady cash flow through regular dividends as volatility in domestic and overseas equity markets has increased.

The SOL US Dividend Dow Jones ETF tracks the Dow Jones US Dividend 100, a US dividend-growth index, and invests across American companies with a consistent track record of dividend payments. It follows the same underlying index as SCHD, a US dividend-growth ETF, and distributes dividends monthly.

Shinhan Asset Management has also segmented its lineup of products investing in US dividend-growth assets by investment objective. The SOL ETF range includes the currency-exposed SOL US Dividend Dow Jones, the currency-hedged SOL US Dividend Dow Jones (H), and SOL US Dividend US Treasury Mixed 50, which is eligible as a safe asset in retirement pension accounts.

"The SOL US Dividend Dow Jones ETF has stayed true to its principle of investing in US dividend-growth companies since listing, delivering reasonable monthly distributions funded by dividend income," said Kim Jeong-hyeon, head of the ETF business group at Shinhan Asset Management. "Surpassing 500 billion won in cumulative retail net purchases reflects the trust investors have placed in that management approach."

Shinhan Asset Management said inflows into its pension products have also continued. Combined assets under management in its flagship target-date funds — Shinhan Maeum Pyeonhan Qualified TDF and Shinhan Pparun Daeeung Qualified TDF — exceeded 2 trillion won last month. More than 600 billion won has flowed in this year alone. Target-date funds are pension funds that gradually reduce exposure to riskier assets such as shares and increase allocations to safer assets such as bonds as an investor's retirement date approaches.