'KIWOOM US Crude Oil Energy Companies' ETF Posts 41.50% 1-Year Return

Benefiting from Surging International Oil Prices
Highest 1-Year Return Among Major Energy ETFs

Kiwoom Asset Management announced on September 3 that its "KIWOOM US Crude Oil Energy Companies" exchange-traded fund (ETF) posted a 1-year return of 41.50 percent. The surge in international oil prices, following escalating military conflict between the United States and Iran, is seen as a major factor behind this performance.

According to DataGuide, as of September 1, this ETF recorded a 1-year return of 41.50 percent, the highest among major crude oil and natural gas energy ETFs listed in Korea. The returns for the past six months and year-to-date were 11.80 percent and 36.79 percent, respectively.

On September 1 (local time), West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at USD 90.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), up 5.2 percent from the previous trading day. Renewed U.S. airstrikes on Iran and the attack on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz have heightened concerns over supply disruptions, causing a sharp rise in international oil prices.

Market analysts believe that as supply instability in the Middle East intensifies, U.S. energy companies increasingly benefit. ExxonMobil’s recently announced second quarter net profit reached 14.5 billion dollars, about double the figure from a year earlier. Chevron also delivered 12.1 billion dollars in net profit for the second quarter, up approximately fourfold compared to the same period last year, while U.S. domestic oil and gas production hit an all-time high.

The KIWOOM US Crude Oil Energy Companies ETF tracks the "MSCI US IMI Energy 25-50 Index" and diversifies investments across more than 110 U.S. crude oil and energy companies using a market capitalization weighted approach.

Unlike other products that track relevant indexes by using oil futures or swaps, this ETF directly includes shares of U.S. energy companies. This allows investors to reflect not only international oil price trends but also fundamentals such as company performance, cash flow, and dividends of U.S. energy firms.

In particular, ExxonMobil (21.84 percent) and Chevron (14.05 percent), two of the leading integrated energy companies in the United States, are held with a combined large weighting of 35.89 percent. Additionally, the ETF provides broad exposure, including upstream companies such as ConocoPhillips (6.00 percent), downstream players like Marathon Petroleum (4.07 percent) and Valero Energy (3.98 percent), as well as energy equipment and services companies such as SLB (3.37 percent). The combined weighting of these key oil companies is 62.13 percent—the highest among major energy ETFs.

Dongjun Oh, ETF portfolio manager at Kiwoom Asset Management, commented, "As renewed U.S.-Iran tensions and concerns over supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz push global oil prices above USD 90 per barrel once again, volatility in the crude oil market is growing." He added, "In a phase of rising global uncertainty, oil and energy companies can serve as a means to diversify portfolios and partially hedge risks for investors."

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