Samsung Active Asset Management's KoAct U.S. Nasdaq Growth Companies Active exchange-traded fund has outperformed the Nasdaq index by investing in artificial intelligence software and central processing unit makers.
The ETF returned 10.96% over the past month, ranking first among ETFs benchmarked to the Nasdaq index, Samsung Active Asset Management said on Oct. 6. Its year-to-date and one-year returns of 40.39% and 48.11% were also the highest among comparable funds. The Nasdaq index returned 1.60%, 7.44% and 13.92% over the same periods. Retail investors have bought a cumulative net 325.1 billion won ($228 million) worth of the fund since the start of the year.
The asset manager attributed the outperformance to quickly reflecting shifts in the macroeconomic environment and the AI industry in its portfolio. Its largest holdings include Palantir at 7.99%, SanDisk at 5.85% and Snowflake at 4.94%. Alongside software companies serving corporate AI adoption, the fund also holds Intel at 4.03%, AMD at 3.66% and Arm at 2.18%, reflecting expectations that the spread of AI agents will lift demand for CPUs. Investing in both AI software and CPU-related companies contributed to the returns, the firm said.
"Macroeconomic uncertainty may cap gains in the broader market, but we expect share prices of select beneficiaries tied to AI agent inference demand to rise more steeply," said Yang Hee-chang, a manager at Samsung Active Asset Management. "With Meta's launch of Muse rapidly expanding the AI agent market, demand for AI infrastructure and software will far exceed market expectations."
