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Buoyed by the sharp growth of the local exchange-traded fund market, South Korean asset managers are rushing to rebrand their product lineups, trying to target investors with a fresh edge.
According to data provided by Korea Exchange, the country's sole bourse operator, the net asset of the local ETF market stood at 158 trillion won ($114 billion) as of Tuesday, marking a sharp growth from 100 trillion won in June 2023. The market grew over three-fold in size from the 52 trillion won net asset in 2020.
Around 870 products are listed on the market, staking investments in diverse assets, such as leading US stock indices Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 to India’s benchmark Nifty 50.
While the domestic ETF market is spearheaded by crosstown rivals Mirae Asset Global Investments and Samsung Asset Management, each owning more than 35 percent market share, others are seeking a makeover in their brand image through renaming their product lineups.
KB Asset Management, the third largest ETF manager here in terms of market share, announced Wednesday it has changed its ETF brand name from KBStar to Rise. Under the change, its 109 ETF products took on the new name.
Since CEO Kim Young-sung took the helm earlier this year, the asset manager has been pushing to renew its ETF business division, the firm explained.
With the makeover, it put forward the new slogan “Rise Tomorrow,” responding to the growing number of retail investors seeking to invest their retirement savings.
"KB Asset Management is to suggest targeted investment strategies for investors and their post-retirement life," Kim Chan-young, head of ETF business, said.
Along with KB, Hanwha Asset Management is to drop its ETF lineup Arirang. It is likely to adopt the name Plus in alignment with the Lifeplus brand, which represents the financial affiliates under Hanwha. A presentation to unveil the new brand will be held on Tuesday.
Kiwoom Asset Management is to revamp its ETF lineups as well, which are currently divided into Kosef for passive ETFs and Heroes for active ETFs. The asset manager is to integrate the two brands under Heroes in the fourth quarter in line with its baseball team Kiwoom Heroes.
The rush to rename comes as asset managers realize the need for a strong brand identity to appeal to investors.
In October 2022, Korea Investment Management reintroduced its ETF lineup, changing the name from Kindex to Ace. Bolstered by the introduction of new products under the brand, it secured an over 6 percent market share, narrowing the gap with KB Asset Management to less than 1 percent.
“Branding is important as it provides consistency for investors,” an official from a local asset management firm said.
"But taking a step further from marketing, asset managers should focus on building up a value chain of ETFs. To be competitive, companies have to take charge of the entire process of ETF investments, even establishing meaningful indices themselves."
