The trading volume of South Korea's exchange traded funds has jumped more than seven times this month amid the white-hot run of the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market, industry data showed Thursday.
The combined trading volume of three ETFs operated by Samsung Asset Management Co. came to 29.44 million shares as of Tuesday, up 7.33 times from the start of November.
The net asset value of the three ETFs stood at about 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion), the largest among the local ETF markets.
Their turnover also soared between more than six times and 34 times during the cited period.
An ETF invests in a basket of stocks that reflects an index, or commodities and bonds, providing retail investors and institutions with a more liquid and risk-hedging tool. Since its debut in 2002, the local ETF market has lured investors who want relatively safe investment vehicles.
The three ETFs track a price index of 150 major stocks traded on the secondary stock market that has recently been on a roll on earnings momentum.
The benchmark index of the minor bourse has been on track to flirt with the 800-point level though it finished down 1.07 percent at 780.90 on profit-taking.
Separately, a market tracker said the recent KOSDAQ boom has allowed KOSDAQ-linked ETFs to register stellar returns. The average return of KOSDAQ-focused ETFs with a net asset value of 1 billion won or more reached 19.2 percent over the past month, according to KG Zeroin. (Yonhap)
