KB Asset Management has launched a fund that invests in growth companies in South Korea's advanced strategic industries, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and defense.
The firm said on the 21st that it had rolled out the KB Korea Advanced Strategic Industries Fund, which selects companies belonging to national advanced strategic industries. The fund targets the 12 advanced strategic industries that the government has designated for cultivation and support over the next five years through its National Growth Fund. They include semiconductors, displays, secondary batteries, biotechnology, robotics, defense, vaccines, hydrogen, next-generation mobility, AI, critical minerals and content.
The fund will screen about 500 stocks, build a model portfolio of 70 to 90 names and ultimately select 30 to 50 stocks. KB Asset Management said it will assess not only the growth potential of each industry but also individual companies' technological competitiveness, order backlogs and earnings power. Stocks that have risen solely on expectations of improved corporate governance or shareholder return policies will be excluded.
The firm also plans to use its in-house research capabilities to find opportunities among smaller suppliers of materials, parts and equipment that receive relatively little coverage from brokerage analysts. Stocks will be picked through company visits by analysts and collaboration between sector managers and portfolio managers. The aim is to widen the investment universe beyond large-cap blue chips to small- and mid-cap materials, parts and equipment companies with high growth potential.
"Even within advanced strategic industries, competitiveness and growth potential can differ from company to company," said Beom Kwang-jin, head of the pension and wealth management division at KB Asset Management. "Based on KB Asset Management's research capabilities, we will identify promising companies and uncover medium- to long-term investment opportunities."