'AI bubble' warning... "A surge is coming" investment veteran's bold outlook

Finding an investment expert

Yang Hee-chang, Manager at Samsung Active Asset Management

"The AI bubble hasn't even started... a full-scale surge will come next year"

NVIDIA winner-takes-all continues

As liquidity is released, leading stocks gain popularity

Top U.S. favorite is SanDisk

"Although there are claims of a bubble in AI-related stocks, this is only the beginning of the (price) rise."

Yang Hee-chang, a manager at Samsung Active Asset Management, said in an interview with The Korea Economic Daily on the 9th, "The prices of major AI tech stocks such as NVIDIA and Google have risen in line with earnings growth and are not yet at a stage to be considered a bubble." He also forecasted, "From next year, aided by liquidity, a full-scale surge in AI-related stocks will unfold."

The 'KoAct US Nasdaq Growth Companies Active' managed by Manager Yang ranked first among overseas equity active ETFs in terms of 6-month returns, recording 66.32%. Over the same period, it delivered more than twice the Nasdaq index's rise of 29.97%. He believes that even if the AI bubble grows, it will not fade until a substantial reduction in liquidity takes place.

He said, "Looking at past cases like the dot-com bubble and the COVID-19 bull market, bubbles were created by liquidity injections such as interest rate cuts, and those bubbles began to deflate when liquidity was withdrawn." He added, "Since U.S. rate cuts have just begun, if the Donald Trump administration's accommodative policy stance continues, the liquidity-driven market will be further strengthened."

Manager Yang also expects the 'winner-takes-all' dynamic, where buying flows concentrate on existing AI leaders like NVIDIA, to continue next year. He advised, "As more money is released, funds will flow into the structurally growing AI industry and its leading companies," and "it is better to keep investing in leading stocks rather than undervalued small and mid caps."

Regarding Palantir Technologies, which faces controversy over high valuation, he said, "As the dominant No. 1 company in AI software, debates over high valuation based on the price-to-earnings ratio (PER) are meaningless."

He picked NAND flash maker SanDisk as his top preferred U.S. stock for year-end, citing expected benefits as NAND prices surge amid skyrocketing demand for memory semiconductors for AI. He analyzed, "The NAND market is expected to nearly double over the next three years, and SanDisk has the technical edge to increase its market share by three to four times."

For U.S. stock investment, he recommended a concentrated buying strategy focused on AI leading stocks. Manager Yang said, "It is worth considering active ETFs that operate centered on AI leading stocks," and "in a situation where industry trends are rapidly changing, they are more likely to outperform passive ETFs or the U.S. Nasdaq index, which contains many stocks unrelated to AI."

Reporter Maeng Jin-gyu maeng@hankyung.com