Korea Investment Management said Tuesday that its ACE K Humanoid Robot Industry TOP2+ exchange-traded fund (ETF) posted the highest one-month return among comparable products since its listing.
According to the Korea Exchange, the ACE K Humanoid Robot Industry TOP2+ ETF returned 36.98% over the past month as of the previous trading day, Nov. 8. The performance was the highest among eight “humanoid” ETFs listed in Korea. Since its listing on Oct. 7, the product has attracted 31.7 billion won in net retail purchases in just over a month, and its net assets have surpassed 58.3 billion won.
The ETF invests around 20% each in Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and Robotis (108490.KQ), the two core companies leading Korea’s humanoid industry, and has increased its exposure to Hyundai Motor Group by incorporating Hyundai AutoEver and Hyundai Mobis. The portfolio also spans the broader humanoid robot value chain, including Rainbow Robotics, a humanoid product developer; SPG, an actuator supplier to Rainbow Robotics; SBB Tech, a precision robot reducer supplier; and Doosan Robotics, a collaborative robot developer.
On Nov. 5 local time, Hyundai Motor Group’s Boston Dynamics released footage of its humanoid robot “Atlas” in action. Analysts said the video featured a development model rather than the research model introduced at CES 2026 earlier this year, demonstrating more refined movements based on a reinforcement learning-based full-body control method. Major Korean companies have also recently moved forward with humanoid robot adoption, raising market expectations for the related industry.
“2026 will be the first year of humanoid robot commercialization, when mass production by major companies begins based on physical AI,” said Nam Yong-soo, head of the ETF division at Korea Investment Management. “Robotics is an industry that requires precision manufacturing technology and mass production experience, and we expect strong synergies with Korea’s strengths in automobile manufacturing.”