Korea Investment Management's 'Korea Investment US S&P 500 Equal Weight More Dream Fund' Ranks No. 1 Among Similar Funds in Returns

Korea Investment Management’s Korea Investment US S&P 500 Equal Weight More Dream Fund ranked first in short- and medium-term returns among publicly offered funds established in Korea that invest in the U.S. market, thanks to its diversification benefits and fast redemption structure.

On November 10, Korea Investment Management said the fund had posted the highest returns over major periods—including the past three months and six months, year to date, and the past year—among publicly offered funds launched in Korea that track the U.S. S&P 500 Index, excluding ETFs.

According to fund evaluator FnGuide, as of November 9, the fund’s returns for each period were -1.33% over three months, 5.22% over six months, 9.89% year to date, and 13.70% over one year. These results significantly outperformed the average returns of comparable public funds: -5.76% over three months, -2.80% over six months, 3.38% year to date, and 5.34% over one year. Excluding the three-month period, for which the hedged class (H)(S-R) ranked first, the Korea Investment US S&P 500 Equal Weight More Dream Fund H(C-F) ranked first across all periods.

The results were driven by the fund’s equal-weight strategy, rather than a market-cap-weighted approach. Amid increased volatility in the stock market, led recently by large-cap artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor stocks, the fund invested equally in all 500 constituents of the S&P 500 Index, reducing the risk of overconcentration in specific stocks. It also achieved volatility protection and balanced performance by diversifying investments across high-quality stocks in a range of sectors, including industrials, financials, and health care, which support the broader U.S. economy.

Another feature of the fund is its “More Dream” redemption structure, designed to make it easier for investors to access their money. Redemption of a typical overseas equity public fund takes about nine business days (T+8) from the request to the actual payment. For the Korea Investment US S&P 500 Equal Weight More Dream Fund, redemption requests submitted before 5 p.m. are processed using the “day after tomorrow” reference price, three business days (T+2) from the request date, with payment made on the same day. Requests submitted after 5 p.m. are processed and paid using the reference price for the fourth business day. The structure cuts the redemption period by more than half, providing high liquidity. As of November 9, the total assets of the fund series—comprising the hedged (H), unhedged (UH), and U.S. dollar (USD) classes—stood at KRW 32.1 billion.

Lee Woojong, a portfolio manager in the Global Quant Management Division at Korea Investment Management, said, “The Korea Investment US S&P 500 Equal Weight More Dream Fund lets investors spread their investments across hundreds of high-quality companies that drive America’s long-term structural growth and broadly support its economy, rather than chasing the latest trends in specific themes. Its equal-weight approach seeks both to protect against downside risk in volatile markets and to capture gains across the portfolio. Its fast access-to-cash structure also addresses liquidity concerns, which have been cited as a drawback of public funds.”

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