KODEX AI Semiconductor TOP 2 Plus (395160) 🔎 In-depth

It tracks the 'FnGuide AI Semiconductor TOP 2+' index. A May 2026 reconstitution changed the index so that the weights of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are each raised to 25%, roughly half combined, with the remainder filled by domestic core front-end and back-end semiconductor companies. The eligibility threshold (market-cap hurdle) was raised and the number of names was compressed to around 15 at most, giving it a form that reflects the leaders' performance more directly.

Its price is directly linked to Korea's semiconductor industry cycle and the share prices of the two leaders. It is especially sensitive to demand for AI memory such as HBM (high-bandwidth memory), the semiconductor price cycle, and shifts in the two companies' earnings expectations. Because it is composed only of domestic assets it is not affected by the exchange rate, but with its few-name concentration, the ETF also moves sharply when semiconductor stocks wobble.

This is an aggressive product that invests concentratedly in the growth of Korea's semiconductors and artificial intelligence. When the semiconductor industry cycle is good it can climb more than the market average, but with heavy concentration in the two names, its drawdown can also be correspondingly deeper in corrections. It is worth clearly understanding that it is a directionally distinct thematic product with both large growth potential and large volatility.

In the first half of 2026 semiconductor stocks showed strength amid artificial-intelligence and HBM fervor, but the mood reversed sharply in mid-July. In particular, on July 13, 2026, SK Hynix plunged about 15% and Samsung Electronics about 11%, the KOSPI fell more than 8%, and there was a correction large enough to trigger a circuit breaker, so this ETF, concentrated in these two names, also fell sharply in a single day. This was a case that clearly showed how much a few-name concentrated product can swing.

In short, it is a product that bets heavily on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and adds a few domestic semiconductor names on the side. When semiconductors rise it rises briskly, but because it is concentrated in the two leaders, it falls just as hard when they fall.