South Korea’s outlook remains bright

Article Excerpt

When we last wrote about South Korea—in late 2022—we pointed out that the country’s stocks had seen a two-year run-up in prices and then a sharp decline. That left many high-quality companies trading at attractive valuations. Since that time the South Korean market has gained 25%, but is still well off its peak. That leaves lots of investing opportunities for value seekers. Here is one ETF that provides exposure to the top South Korean publicly listed companies. ISHARES MSCI SOUTH KOREA ETF $63.56 (New York symbol EWY; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $5.0 billion) tracks the performance of the largest publicly listed South Korean companies. Technology companies account for 39% of its assets while Financial Services (14%), Industrials (14%), Consumer Cyclical (10%), and Basic Materials (7%) are other key segments. The ETF holds a portfolio of 99 stocks; the top 10 make up 47% of the fund’s assets. They are Samsung Electronics (Technology, 18.7%), SK Hynix (Technology, 7.7%), Hyundai Motor Corp. (Consumer Cyclical, 3.2%), KB Financial…