S. Korea’s first metaverse-themed ETFs listed

Four metaverse-themed exchange-traded funds went listed for the first time on the country’s stock markets on Wednesday, betting on growing interest in the new IT platform.

The four ETFs are KB Asset Management’s KBSTAR iSelect Metaverse, NH Amundi Asset Management’s Hanaro Fn K-Metaverse MZ, Mirae Asset Global Investment’s Tiger Fn Metaverse, and Samsung Asset Management’s KODEX K-Metaverse Active.

Samsung Asset’s ETF product is an actively managed fund, while the other three are passive funds, following metaverse-related indexes. For instance, Mirae Asset benchmarks market intelligence service provider FnGuide’s metaverse index which follows some 20 companies.

NH selected the top 20 stocks by scoring metaverse-related keywords and added 10 stocks to the consumer goods industry, excluding automobile companies. KB follows the iSelect Metaverse Index, which selects companies based on industry exposure, sales linkage, and future growth potential.

A peek into the list of companies some of these metaverse ETF providers disclosed showed heavy exposure to entertainment and game industries as well as the country’s top portal, Naver.

Both Samsung and Mirae Asset have unveiled a list of companies included in their funds. As of Tuesday, Samsung’s Metaverse ETF consisted of Hybe, Naver, Krafton, Peal Abyss and JContentree while Mirae Asset chose Naver, LG Innotek, Hybe, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment.

Hybe is the company behind hugely popular boy band BTS, and Krafton and Peal Abyss are the country’s leading video game makers.

(gypark@heraldcorp.com)