"KOSDAQ could rise another 50%"

Source

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

Cho Il-woong, an executive at Hanwha Asset Management, said he has offered an optimistic outlook that the KOSDAQ index could jump another 50% from current levels.
Hanwha Asset Management said it will list the 'PLUS KOSDAQ 150 Active ETF'—benchmarked to the KOSDAQ 150 index—on the 17th, moving in earnest into the KOSDAQ active ETF race.
The ETF plans to invest with meaningful weightings in the KOSDAQ 150 along with bio, semiconductors, energy, energy MPE, and telemedicine-related companies.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

Cho Il-woong, Head of Equities at Hanwha Asset Management

KOSDAQ active ETF to list on the 17th

Spotlight on promising energy and telemedicine names

"The KOSDAQ index can jump another 50% from here. A 'second Naver' will remain on the KOSDAQ and lead the market."

Cho Il-woong, Head of Equities at Hanwha Asset Management, offered an upbeat outlook for the KOSDAQ market in an interview with The Korea Economic Daily on the 12th. His view reflects the judgment that a wide range of growth industries—bio, semiconductor materials/parts/equipment (MPE), K-content and more—are clustered in the market, leaving ample room for longer-term gains.

Hanwha Asset Management will list the 'PLUS KOSDAQ 150 Active' exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the 17th, formally entering the competition in KOSDAQ active ETFs. It is a latecomer after Timefolio and Samsung Active Asset Management, but plans to differentiate itself through rigorous stock selection.

*Cho Il-woong, Head of Equities at Hanwha Asset Management. Photo=Hanwha Asset Management*

The biggest differentiator is the underlying index. Unlike rivals that target the broader KOSDAQ universe, Hanwha Asset Management chose the KOSDAQ 150 as its benchmark. Cho emphasized that "the KOSDAQ 150 comprises companies whose liquidity and financial soundness have been vetted in the first instance," adding that "in the KOSDAQ, where troubled firms are scattered, generating outperformance using the 150 index as the baseline is far more advantageous for investors."

The weighting in stocks outside the KOSDAQ 150 is also expected to reach 40%. He said, "We will avoid extreme strategies that place excessive bets on a specific theme or a handful of individual names," adding, "We will maintain the market’s sector balance to some extent." The ETF plans to invest with meaningful weightings not only in bio (29%), semiconductors (27%) and energy (23%), but also in robotics, beauty and content names. He added that the strategy will identify names such as energy MPE and telemedicine-related companies whose fundamentals are solid but which have drawn relatively less attention.

On the recent trend of retail money flowing into KOSDAQ active ETFs, he diagnosed it as "a structural limitation stemming from strong expectations and interest in the KOSDAQ, but a large number of stocks and severe information asymmetry."

Reporter Yang Ji-yoon yang@hankyung.com