Only domestic equity ETF to hold Woori-ro; RF Materials held at highest weighting among peers
Samsung Active Asset Management said Thursday that its KoAct Fiber Optic & Satellite Network Active ETF posted a weekly return of 3.03%, topping all domestic equity ETFs for the period.
Since its listing on July 14, the fund has returned 17.21%, buoyed by a broad rally in fiber-optic shares at home and abroad.
The KoAct Fiber Optic & Satellite Network Active ETF invests in South Korean companies operating in the network infrastructure sector.
Expectations are growing that the advancement of AI services will drive demand for high-speed, large-capacity fiber-optic infrastructure needed to connect systems within and between data centers. Moves in the United States to phase out Chinese-made equipment in the sector have also acted as a tailwind for domestic companies.
The ETF's holdings include RF Materials (12.17%), Woori-ro (7.44%), Hanwha Aerospace (6.43%), Taihan Fiberoptics (5.77%) and Fiberpro (5.46%).
Woori-ro, which produces optical splitters and photodiodes for fiber-optic applications, is the only domestic equity ETF holding to appear exclusively in the KoAct Fiber Optic & Satellite Network Active ETF.
RF Materials supplies fiber-optic components to Lumentum, a leading US fiber-optic company, and is held at its highest weighting in the KoAct Fiber Optic & Satellite Network Active ETF compared with any other ETF.
However, share price volatility could be significant given that earnings improvements at domestic fiber-optic companies are only beginning to materialize this year.
"The fiber-optic infrastructure super cycle, led by the United States, has entered the early stages of growth," said Kim Hyo-sik, head of Portfolio Management Team 2 at Samsung Active Asset Management. "A genuine trickle-down effect is now reaching domestic fiber-optic and network companies, with order expansion and earnings improvement becoming increasingly pronounced."
jiyun@heraldcorp.com
