사진 확대
As Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix began to return their largest shareholders in history, the market’s attention is shifting to its holding and financial affiliates, which are on the path to benefiting from the return of shareholders. Following the emergence of intensive exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from Samsung and SK Group companies, Samsung Group is also set to launch ETFs overseas. It is a move that has targeted the effect of dispersing affiliates while maximizing the benefits of semiconductor market share profits.
If the ETF market focused on semiconductor-themed products centered on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in the first half of this year, the “Samjeonics” front in the second half of this year is expanding to the group level in line with the return of shareholders.
According to the asset management industry on the 23rd, Kiwoom Investment Asset Management will list ‘KIWOOM Samsung SK Group TOP4+’ on the 1st of next month. 50% of all components were filled with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, SK Square, and Samsung C&T, Samsung Life Insurance, and SK were added to this. It is a strategy to incorporate sub-components as ‘Samjeonics stakeholders’. As a result, the ETF is expected to be the most exposed product by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Recently, the term ‘S7’ has even appeared in the domestic market as an expression corresponding to the US ‘M7. It is an expression that combines Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung Life Insurance, SK Hynix, SK Square, and SK. This is due to the equity structure of large domestic companies that do not exist overseas. For example, in the case of Google, search, cloud, and YouTube profits gather in one stock called “Alphabet,” while Samsung Group lists electronics, C&T, and life business units as individual stocks.
For this reason, some analysts say that there are many “group stock ETFs” in Korea. Lee Kyung-joon, head of Kiwoom Investment Asset Management, said, “It is like putting stocks divided by governance problems back together through ETFs.”
Overseas, it has also jumped into launching ETFs for domestic groups. Roundhill, a U.S. management company that succeeded in the “Roundhill Memory ETF” (DRAM), applied for a review of the listing approval of the “Roundhill Samsung Group” ETF on the 12th. There is a prospect of listing as early as October. Roundhill also mentioned the ETF as characterized by a “complex governance structure entangled in circular investment.”
Samsung and SK Group’s intensive ETFs are expected to receive expectations in the second half of the year amid the flow of shareholder returns. This is because the effects of expanding dividends and burning treasury stocks usually lead to holding companies and affiliates.
Currently, Samsung C&T has 5.1 percent stake in Samsung Electronics and 8.5 percent in Samsung Life Insurance. In other words, assuming that Samsung Electronics releases 100 trillion won in dividends, more than 13 trillion won will flow into the two companies’ coffers. The same goes for SK Group. SK Square is the largest shareholder with a 20.5% stake in SK Hynix, while SK has a 32.1% stake in SK Square. If SK Hynix expands its dividend, SK Square’s cash inflow will increase, which in turn affects the value of SK Square and SK.
Experts view the return of shareholders and expansion of investment in the second half of the year as the main keywords for the local stock market. Yoon Jae-hong, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, analyzed, “Dividend may not beat inflation, but the signal itself is important to increase the scale of reduction.”
In addition, there are predictions that investment in Honam semiconductor clusters could be an additional driving force for ETFs in group stocks in the second half of the year. Analysts say that the larger the investment, the more likely the benefits will spread to affiliates and suppliers such as construction, equipment, and materials. Shin Hyun-song, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, also said, “Foreigners and institutions are not yet strong in buying these stocks,” but added, “As related stocks such as SK Hynix showed some rebound last week, the stock price will continue to rise in the second half of the year.”
The ‘group-oriented’ ETF also has a difference in terms of distributed investment. This is because affiliates with different business characteristics can be included together in a phase where the semiconductor industry is highly volatile. Researcher Yoon said, “In particular, Samsung Group can be relatively dispersed due to different business characteristics of each affiliate.” For example, Samsung Life Insurance explains that the stock price trend may be different from that of Samsung Electronics as stock prices move depending on interest rates and insurance industries.
“The return of shareholders can be the driving force for the rise in stock prices, but volatility is expected to continue,” Lee said, adding, “As the two companies’ return method and the path of receiving the holding company are different, it is worth considering a strategy to include both Samsung and SK rather than focusing on one of the two groups.”
[Reporter Choo Kyung Ah]