Samsung Asset Management
Samsung Asset Management said Tuesday it has newly listed the “KODEX Solid-State Battery ESS TOP2 Plus” exchange-traded fund (ETF), which focuses on investing in solid-state batteries and energy storage systems (ESS).
The KODEX Solid-State Battery ESS TOP2 Plus is designed to allow simultaneous investment in solid-state batteries, regarded as next-generation batteries, and the ESS industry, which has emerged as core infrastructure in the artificial intelligence (AI) era, moving beyond conventional secondary battery investments centered on electric vehicles.
The ETF invests a combined 50 percent in Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution (373220.KS), Korea’s leading battery companies. Both companies possess competitiveness in the ESS battery business and are leading the development of solid-state batteries, allowing the fund to simultaneously reflect ESS market growth and expectations for solid-state battery commercialization, according to the company.
In addition, the ETF incorporates companies with competitiveness across the entire solid-state battery and ESS value chains. In the solid-state battery sector, it invests in companies related to solid electrolytes, silicon anode materials, and next-generation cathode materials. In the ESS sector, it includes power conversion system (PCS), power equipment, system packaging, and battery equipment companies.
Major holdings include Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution, as well as Isu Specialty Chemical, Daejoo Electronic Materials, Lotte Energy Materials, L&F, LS ELECTRIC, Hyosung Heavy Industries, Seojin System, and CIS.
While growth expectations across the secondary battery sector have declined recently due to slowing electric vehicle demand and an industry correction, the ESS market is drawing attention as a new growth engine amid rising power demand from the spread of AI data centers. Along with expanding global power grid investment, ESS-related orders and revenue are also on a trend of full-fledged growth.
Solid-state batteries are also expanding their range of applications beyond electric vehicles to various industrial fields such as humanoid robots, aerospace, urban air mobility (UAM), and ESS, based on higher safety and energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries.
“This will be an effective investment vehicle for investors seeking to invest in the structural growth of the battery industry, which is expanding beyond electric vehicles to AI infrastructure, robots, and future mobility,” said Shin Hyun-jin, a manager at Samsung Asset Management.