Samsung Asset Management: KODEX China Humanoid Robot ETF Achieves 38.3% One-Year Return

Samsung Asset Management announced on July 8 that the KODEX China Humanoid Robot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) posted a one-year return of 38.3%. Investment sentiment has shifted back to the humanoid robot sector as key global players—including China's Unitree, which was listed on the STAR Market, and Tesla in the United States, which began mass production of its Optimus robot—have begun to move. The ETF's net asset value amounts to 203 billion won.

Short-term performance is also noteworthy. The KODEX China Humanoid Robot ETF recorded a 0.6% return over the past month and an 18.1% return over the past three months, outperforming competing products on the market by a substantial margin of about 9 to 11 percentage points.

The reason behind such differentiated performance lies in the ‘purity’ of the portfolio. This product is designed to focus investments on 'robot body' companies specializing in hardware such as actuators and reducers. By selecting and holding key value chain companies in China that are expected to benefit most directly and immediately as global manufacturers ramp up robot mass production, the ETF was able to sensitively capture the market’s upward momentum.

An additional positive factor is that the investment paradigm in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry is rapidly shifting from simple software to ‘physical AI’ that operates in the real world. While generative AI has transformed the digital ecosystem, humanoid robots are considered the next-generation game changers poised to revolutionize the real economy across manufacturing and logistics sectors.

In particular, China’s humanoid industry is seeing major positive developments as the second half of the year begins. On July 2, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approved the initial public offering (IPO) of global robot manufacturer Unitree Robotics on the Shanghai STAR Market. Unitree is projected to become the first humanoid robot company listed on China’s A-share market, with an estimated corporate value of about 9.5 trillion won. In addition, Tesla is accelerating preparations for mass production of its Optimus humanoid robot. CEO Elon Musk recently announced during an earnings call that production is scheduled to begin between late July and early August, and a large-scale factory dedicated to Optimus is under construction in Texas. As a result, not only Tesla but also Chinese and global value chain companies supplying parts to Tesla are attracting heightened attention.

Furthermore, in July and August, major robotics industry events such as the ‘2026 World Humanoid Robot Games (WHRG)’, the ‘2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC)’, and the ‘2026 World Robot Conference (WRC)’ are scheduled to be held in China. Additional growth expectations are fueled by factors such as the increase in NVIDIA’s China workforce from around 3,000 to 4,000 people since 2024, and a roughly 215% surge in hiring in China’s humanoid-related industries over the past year.

Lee Kahyun, manager at Samsung Asset Management, stated, “China is rapidly commercializing the humanoid robot industry, leveraging the government’s active policies to foster the robotics sector, its manufacturing competitiveness, and AI technological capabilities. With industry-wide momentum continuing—illustrated by Unitree’s IPO and the launch of Tesla’s Optimus mass production—and as the sector enters a full-scale mass production competition phase, the potential for improved earnings among related companies is also steadily increasing.”

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