Samsung Asset Management is introducing an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in the 'AI agent' market, where artificial intelligence (AI) plans and executes tasks on its own.

Samsung Asset Management said it will newly list the KODEX US AI Agent Active ETF on Oct. 13, focusing investments on key companies in the AI agent industry.

An AI agent is a technology that goes beyond simply handling a user's request. It understands the work objective, plans the necessary tasks, executes them and produces results.

As the areas using AI expand, related industries are broadening from semiconductors such as memory and central processing units (CPUs) to software and infrastructure that implement actual services.

KODEX US AI Agent Active invests in major U.S. companies that make up the AI agent ecosystem. Its targets include companies that provide the technology and infrastructure needed to implement AI agents, as well as companies expected to benefit from the expansion of related services.

The ETF will be managed actively, flexibly adjusting its holdings and weights depending on market conditions and individual companies' growth potential. Reflecting market characteristics where new AI agent services continue to emerge, it aims to respond to rapid industry changes and seek excess returns over its benchmark index.

Its benchmark is Indxx US AI Agents. It holds the top 3 stocks — Meta, which has been expanding its 'Muse' AI agent service, Palantir, which is building an AI agent-based work environment, and AI security firm Palo Alto Networks — at a combined weight of about 47 percent.

It also invests in companies across industries needed for AI agents to be used in actual work, including cloud and data, semiconductors, power infrastructure and payments.

Han Dong-hoon (한동훈), a manager at Samsung Asset Management, said, "As the AI industry rapidly expands into a stage where it is used in actual work, AI agents are at the center." He added, "This ETF is a product that responds to AI market trends."