Samsung Asset Management, 'KODEX K-Content' ETF Name Change... Focused Investment in Sovereign AI Theme

[Financial News]  With the new government in place, a vision has been presented to nurture the K-Culture industry as a new growth engine for the nation, aiming to expand it into a 300 trillion won market. Accordingly, there is growing anticipation that the K-content industry, which has global competitiveness in games, webtoons, music, and movies, will enter a full-fledged growth trajectory.
Samsung Asset Management announced on the 25th that it will change the name of the existing 'KODEX Media & Entertainment ETF' to 'KODEX K-Content ETF' in line with these market changes and government policy directions.
This name change is intended to clarify the identity of the ETF, which focuses on investing in leading K-content companies in Korea, and to help investors understand the product more intuitively, while maintaining the existing management strategy and underlying index.
If the previous 'KODEX Media & Entertainment' name gave the impression of being confined to traditional broadcasting and film industries, the new 'KODEX K-Content' encompasses the meaning of leading companies in advanced content industries such as software, KPOP, K-games, and media, which Korea is leading globally.
In particular, it is a product that enhances the leading stock investment effect by including Naver and Kakao, which have emerged as beneficiaries of the recent government-led Sovereign AI, with a high proportion, while allowing simultaneous investment in AI and content industries, one of the major policies of the new government. The ETF recorded net assets of 97.5 billion won, growing 149% compared to the beginning of the year.
K-content, called the new growth engine of the domestic economy, is expected to create significant synergy with state-led policy support and the influence of the Korean Wave.
The government has put forward 'Cultural Powerhouse' as one of the 'Five Major Powers' visions. Previously, the government set a goal to expand the K-content industry market size to 300 trillion won and exports to 50 trillion won by 2030, aiming to make the country strong in software. Additionally, the government announced the opening of the '100 trillion won AI investment era.' With large-scale investments expected in state-led AI, the market anticipates that the competitiveness of major software companies will be strengthened.
In the private sector, with the emergence of new media such as SNS, the global market is being connected as one, and the era of K-content based on global fandom is expected to structurally expand. Especially with the recent improvement in Korea-China relations, private exchanges between Korea and China are increasing, and expectations for the lifting of the Korean Wave ban are growing, leading to increased consumption of K-culture and concert sales, which are expected to have positive effects.
Additionally, the recent global success of 'KPOP-Demon Hunters' through Netflix is interpreted as leading to an expansion from consumption centered on core fandom to consumption by the general public. As a result, the global influence of the K-content industry is expected to accelerate further.
Amidst these market trends, KODEX K-Content is expected to enjoy the growth of K-content, which will create synergy with state-led policy support and global private flows, by including key stocks leading each content industry such as Kakao 23.8%, Naver 21.9%, Krafton 15.7%, and HYBE 8.7% with a high proportion.
Ah-Hyun Song, a manager at Samsung Asset Management, said, "K-POP, K-games, K-webtoons, and other Korean content have now firmly established themselves as the mainstream of global culture," adding, "This name change reflects global investment trends and government policy directions to provide investors with a clear solution to invest in the core of K-content."





kakim@fnnews.com Kyung-Ah Kim Reporter