Mirae Asset's TIGER 200 ETF to pay record 725-won distribution in October on Samsung Electronics special dividend

Mirae Asset Global Investments announced Wednesday that its TIGER 200 ETF will pay a distribution of 725 won per unit for October.

The payout is five times the 145 won distributed in the same month last year and marks the highest per-unit distribution since the fund began making payouts. The distribution rate stands at 0.81 percent. The October payment brings the fund's cumulative distribution for this year to 1,508 won per unit, surpassing last year's full-year total of 890 won. Investors who purchased the ETF by Wednesday are eligible to receive the October distribution.

The jump reflects Samsung Electronics' special dividend for the third quarter. Samsung Electronics is pursuing a cash dividend of around 30 trillion won ($22.7 billion) — more than 10 times its regular quarterly dividend — and analysts estimate the per-share payout at around 4,600 won.

The TIGER 200 ETF ranks among the top performers in both returns and long-term distribution history among KOSPI 200 ETFs listed in South Korea. As of Tuesday, its year-to-date return stood at 47.72 percent, the highest among the 15 ETFs tracking the KOSPI 200 index. Its cumulative distribution from 2016 through July 2026 also reached 7,903 won per unit, the most among major KOSPI 200 ETFs with net assets exceeding 200 billion won.

Investor interest has grown. Retail investors made net purchases of 1.04 trillion won year-to-date, driving net assets to 8.79 trillion won. Average daily trading volume this month climbed to 1.59 trillion won, roughly eight times the 201 billion won recorded in the same month last year.

Jung Yoon-hee, head of the ETF management division at Mirae Asset Global Investments, said South Korea's stock market is undergoing structural change as AI semiconductor competitiveness and expanding shareholder returns converge. "The TIGER 200 ETF combines a low total expense ratio of 0.05 percent annually, the top return ranking and ample liquidity, making it the representative domestic investment vehicle for capturing this trend," Jung said.

Fund inflows have continued across Mirae Asset's product lineup. On Tuesday, retail net purchases of the TIGER Dividend Covered Call Active ETF since the start of the year surpassed 2 trillion won, reaching 2.4 trillion won. The fund's year-to-date return of 40.29 percent ranks first among covered call ETFs listed in South Korea, and its cumulative return since listing stands at 141.88 percent.