PLUS Global HBM Semiconductor (442580) 🔎 In-depth

The benchmark index is the 'iSelect Global HBM Semiconductor Index,' calculated by an affiliate of NH Investment & Securities. It is an index that selects, from companies listed at home and abroad, firms that directly make DRAM or HBM or that supply the equipment used in their production. This ETF tracks the index by 'physical replication,' actually buying and holding the constituent stocks, and as an 'FX-exposed' type that is not FX-hedged (protected against exchange-rate moves), changes in the value of the dollar and other foreign currencies are reflected directly in returns.

As an FX-exposed type that is not FX-hedged, on top of the rise and fall of the US and Korean chip stocks it holds, won-dollar exchange-rate movements are reflected in returns as well. For example, even if US stocks are unchanged, if the dollar strengthens (won weakens) the won-converted value rises, and conversely if the won strengthens it is trimmed by that much. It is also heavily skewed toward the three major memory makers, so the whole ETF moves sharply with the HBM/DRAM cycle and with these names' earnings and share prices. Recently, a trend in which demand for AI-server HBM leads the memory cycle has continued, drawing the attention of semiconductor investors to this area.

This is a 'growth and theme' ETF concentrated on HBM and memory, the core components of the AI era. Its strength is the convenience of holding the world's leading memory names and related equipment stocks all at once with a single ticker, but in reality the weight is heavily concentrated in three companies, Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics, making it closer to 'memory large-cap concentration' than diversification. So when the memory-chip cycle is good it gets a big boost, but if DRAM prices turn down or the pace of AI investment slows, it can wobble sharply as well. Add the variable of exchange-rate movements, and it has one more source of fluctuation than domestic equity funds.

The closing price on July 13, 2026 was ₩108,600, and the NAV was ₩93,921 with the close somewhat below NAV. The daily change that day was -8.64%, a sharp decline, which appears to have moved in step with a correction in the share prices of the three heavily weighted memory makers. AUM (net assets) was about ₩1.6 trillion, and the market capitalization was about ₩1.89 trillion.

In a word, it is a theme ETF that 'puts the world's leading makers of the HBM memory essential to AI into one basket.' Three companies, Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics, make up about three-quarters, so it is heavily swayed by the memory cycle, and because it is not FX-hedged, the exchange rate affects returns as well.