SK hynix ADR Premium Persists as Convertible Volume Reaches Just 2.5%

*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an 'artificial intelligence (AI)-based customized news recommendation and summary service' developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six customized news items by reader type.

1. 'ADR 25% Conversion' a Rumor…"Without Additional Offering, 2.5% Is the Limit"

- Key Summary: Contrary to market expectations that the 25% ADR custody limit registered by SK hynix in the U.S. represents the domestic conversion limit, the actual additional convertible volume was confirmed to be just 2.5% of the previously issued volume. The explanation is that this is merely a buffer prepared for cases where ADRs are converted domestically, cancelled in the U.S., and reissued, and does not represent the conversion limit of the underlying shares. SK hynix ADRs closed at $154.03 on the 17th, maintaining a premium of about 24.60% over the domestic underlying shares. In a similar case, TSMC also expanded its ADR proportion over several years not through natural conversion but through procedures equivalent to an additional offering, including board approval, approval from Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), and SEC registration.

2. Active ETFs Fade in Volatile Market…7 of 10 Trail Benchmark Index

- Key Summary: Amid increased domestic stock market volatility this month, only 96 (31.0%) of 310 active ETFs with verifiable benchmark indexes beat the index returns. 'HK Best Eleven Active' and 'MIDAS Small-Mid Cap Active,' which had high semiconductor weightings, underperformed the KOSPI 200 and the KOSPI Mid-Cap Index by 4.7 percentage points and 6.6 percentage points, respectively. In contrast, 'TRUSTON Shareholder Value Active,' which reduced its SK hynix weighting and increased its financial stock weighting, outperformed the KOSPI 200 by 8.7 percentage points, while 'FOCUS AI Korea Active,' which invests in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, recorded performance 8.8 percentage points higher than the KOSPI. Within the asset management industry, some assess that since active ETFs are not products that completely deviate from their benchmark index, the sustainability of excess returns must be examined.

3. Corporate Bonds Snubbed Amid Rate Anxiety…Credit Spread Tops 70bp

- Key Summary: The credit spread, the yield gap between three-year treasury bonds and AA-grade corporate bonds, recorded 70.5bp (1bp = 0.01 percentage point) as of the 15th this month, entering the 70bp range for the first time in about two years and five months. This exceeds the 68.4bp recorded at the end of 2024, with weak corporate bond demand due to rate uncertainty cited as the main cause. In fact, Kiwoom Securities (039490.KS), a non-blue-chip bond issuer unlike the blue-chip Korea Investment & Securities affiliate, raised funds exceeding four times its target, while Hanjin, a non-blue-chip bond issuer, saw unsold portions in some maturity structures, showing clear differentiation by grade. The investment banking (IB) industry explained that the concentration of funds into the stock market is also affecting the deterioration of corporate bond investment sentiment.

4. Riding the Semiconductor Rotation…MPE ETFs Soar

- Key Summary: Over the past week, semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment (MPE)-related products swept the top of ETF return rankings. This came as buying spread to equipment and materials companies while large-cap semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix paused after a short-term surge. 'SOL Semiconductor Front-End Process' recorded the highest return at 29.11%, and individual stocks such as Wonik IPS (34.1%) and PSK (28.3%) continued their strong performance. The securities industry forecasts that the strong MPE trend could continue for some time as the AI semiconductor investment cycle continues.

5. Corporate Loan Delinquency Rates Flash Warning…Banks "Proactively Managing Risk"

- Key Summary: As the Bank of Korea raised the base rate for the first time in three years and six months, forecasts emerged that the corporate loan delinquency rate would rise by nearly 0.1 percentage point in the second half. The simple average of small and medium-sized enterprise loan delinquency rates at the five major banks—KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup—was 0.59% as of the end of June this year, up 0.11 percentage point from the end of last year. Accordingly, the banking sector has begun proactive credit management focusing on variable-rate and bullet-repayment borrowers and cyclically sensitive industries, and the household loan delinquency rate is also forecast to rise with a two-to-three-quarter time lag. A commercial bank official predicted that the delinquency rate rise for small and medium-sized corporations and individual business owners would continue as polarization between industries intensifies.

6. BOK Warns of 'Semiconductor Dutch Disease'…Rebuttals Say "Conditions Such as Exchange Rate Differ"

- Key Summary: The Bank of Korea warned that semiconductor-centered growth could lead to so-called 'Dutch disease,' in which it monopolizes resources and manpower and erodes the growth foundation of other industries. In the first quarter of this year, gross domestic income (GDI) increased 13.2% year-on-year, far exceeding the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate (3.8%), with the gap between the two indicators recording the largest since statistics began. The BOK expressed concern that income increased by the semiconductor boom would be difficult to spread to overall household purchasing power, and that liquidity could flow into unproductive assets such as real estate, expanding financial imbalances. However, a senior government official stated that the GDI increase could have a positive ripple effect on domestic demand and expressed a position to prevent the concentration phenomenon through measures such as a future response fund.