Mirae Asset Management said on Feb. 9 that net assets of its TIGER Semiconductor TOP10 ETF have exceeded 5 trillion won.

The Korea Exchange said net assets of the TIGER Semiconductor TOP10 ETF stood at 5.33 trillion won as of Feb. 6, the largest among domestic stock theme ETFs.

Mirae Asset attributed the rise to continued investor inflows into the broader semiconductor industry as demand for memory semiconductors expands rapidly on the back of advances in AI systems. It said the ETF reached the milestone 9 days after surpassing 4 trillion won in net assets.

Cumulative net buying by individual investors since the start of the year totals 869.5 billion won, ranking first among theme ETFs. Returns over the same period are 39.58 percent, far outpacing the KOSPI index gain of 20.76 percent.

The TIGER Semiconductor TOP10 ETF invests in 10 leading South Korean semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which it holds at 23.9 percent and 30.2 percent, respectively. It is characterised by having the highest weightings of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix among domestic semiconductor ETFs.

Jeong Ui-hyeon (정의현), head of Mirae Asset Management's ETF management division, said operating profit margins at memory makers are improving sharply as rising sales of high value-added HBM products coincide with a surge in prices of commodity DRAM.