TIGER KOFR Rate Active (Synthetic) (449170) 🔎 In-depth

The benchmark index is the KOFR Index. KOFR is an ultra-short-term rate calculated and published by the Korea Securities Depository; it is fixed each business day by taking the rates formed in actual overnight (next-day) repo (repurchase-agreement) transactions collateralized by government bonds and monetary stabilization bonds, filtering out high and low outliers, and taking a volume-weighted average. Because it is collateralized, it is a 'risk-free' rate with virtually no risk, and a key feature is that it is difficult to manipulate. This ETF aims to accumulate that day's rate as interest each day and reflect it in the NAV.

Rather than swinging sharply like a stock, its normal appearance is a gently upward-sloping value as the KOFR rate fixed each day is added as interest. Because it tracks a rate with a one-day maturity, there is almost no price loss from rate changes (duration risk), and on many days the daily change stays around 0%. Indeed, on July 13, 2026 the closing price was ₩111,320, with a daily change of 0.0%. That said, when market rates fall, the interest added each day shrinks accordingly. The Bank of Korea's base rate has stayed frozen at 2.50% since a cut in May 2025, so KOFR has largely moved in line with that level. Being a domestic asset, there is no FX effect.

Its price fluctuation is extremely small, making it a representative cash-parking product with a low risk of the principal swinging much. Its strength is that even holding it for just one day reflects that day's interest, so there is almost no interest loss whenever you put money in or take it out. However, being safe means the expected return is also low, at the ultra-short-term rate level, and it is hard to expect returns that substantially exceed the inflation rate. Also, because it is 'synthetic,' there is counterparty risk in that a loss could in theory arise if the counterparty (securities firm) providing the swap fails to perform the contract. This risk is managed to be lowered through regulatory measures such as maintaining collateral, but one should know that its structure differs from a product that holds bonds physically and directly.

KOFR moves in line with the Bank of Korea's base rate, and as the base rate continues its frozen phase at 2.50%, the ultra-short-term rate has been maintained relatively stably. Recently, a trend has also appeared in which the broadening base of transactions that use KOFR as a reference is being encouraged, such as banks being nudged to increase issuance of floating-rate notes benchmarked to KOFR rather than the CD rate.

In a word, it is an ultra-low-risk cash-parking ETF where, like a bank parking account, 'interest accrues even if you leave your money for just one day.' It cannot earn a lot, but it hardly fluctuates, so it is used to rest money briefly before deciding where to invest.