Woori Asset Management Equity ETFs Post 153% Average One-Year Return, Top in Industry

Focusing on “Leading Sectors” Drives Performance

The domestic equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed by Woori Asset Management posted an average return of 153.5% over the past year, ranking first in the industry. Market watchers say the company delivered explosive performance by focusing on products targeting “leading sectors” rather than simply expanding its product lineup.

Woori Asset Management announced on the 5th that, based on KG Zeroin data as of January 30, the average one-year return of its three equity ETFs stood at 153.5%, the highest among all asset management companies. This figure is the simple average of the period returns of the three ETFs from the end of January last year to the end of last month.

This performance is particularly meaningful in that all three equity ETFs generated excess returns compared with the broader market. All three of Woori Asset Management’s equity ETFs — WON Semiconductor Value Chain Active, WON 200, and WON AI ESG Active — recorded triple-digit returns.

In particular, the WON Semiconductor Value Chain Active ETF delivered an outstanding return of 199% over the past year, the most notable among the three. It is seen as the result of an active management strategy that allocated about 50% of assets to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) leaders such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, while selectively including key companies in the semiconductor value chain such as SK Square, Leeno Industrial, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which paid off during the “semiconductor supercycle” phase.

The market benchmark product, the WON 200 ETF, also benefited from the era of the KOSPI 5000, posting a return of 136.8%. The WON AI ESG Active ETF recorded a return of 124.6%, demonstrating the effectiveness of a strategy that invests in companies that simultaneously offer strong growth potential in the AI industry and excellence in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.

Woori Asset Management’s differentiated strategy played a decisive role in achieving these results. Rather than rushing to launch theme-based products, the company has focused on carefully selecting core sectors capable of seizing market leadership and turning them into investment products. In fact, on a full-year 2025 basis, these three equity ETFs also ranked first among all equity ETFs, with an average return of 109.5%.

Choi Hongseok, Head of the ETF Solutions Division at Woori Asset Management, said, “Instead of rolling out short-term, theme-driven products, we are designing products with differentiated strategies after carefully considering market trends and structural growth,” adding, “The fact that the WON Mega IB & Financial Holding ETF launched this year is also generating higher returns than the market shows that this strategy is effective.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.