Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
KB Asset rolls out first blockchain investment fund
KB Asset Management logo / Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
KB Asset Management launched the country's first blockchain-focused mutual investment fund, the “KB Global Digital Chain Economy” fund, Monday.
Blockchain refers to a decentralized ledger technology that records the provenance of a digital asset, through which any data registered on blockchain cannot be modified. The transparent technology is currently in high demand particularly in payment industries, and its scope is continuing to expand to areas, including cloud service, cybersecurity and healthcare.
The KB Asset fund is divided into three main investment areas. First, companies that produce blockchain-related hardware, such as CPUs and graphic cards, specifically companies such as Nvidia, AMD, Intel and Samsung Electronics.
Secondly, key software companies that provide blockchain-based services to customers, including IBM, Amazon and Microsoft, and Asian big-tech companies Baidu and Fujitsu.
And lastly, companies that actually apply blockchain technology to their current business model. These include PayPal, Visa, Square and NTT DATA, as well as major platform companies such as Tencent and Google.
By country, U.S. companies account for over 52 percent of the fund's portfolio, followed by Japanese firms at 14 percent, those from European countries at 12 percent and from China at 11 percent.
The fund can be invested in at KB Securities, SK Securities and Korea Foss Securities.
“Blockchain is a key technology that leads the Fourth Industrial Revolution, along with 5G and artificial intelligence technologies,” KB Asset Management CEO Lee Hyun-seung said. “Through the fund, retail investors can easily get access to investments into blockchain-related companies,” he added.
KB Asset also launched the country's first metaverse-themed fund in June, introducing fresh investment areas for the local fund sector.
Global market research firm IDC forecasts blockchain investment to increase by an annual average of 46.4 percent by 2024. Gartner, another research firm, estimates that blockchain technology will create $3.1 trillion worth of added value by 2030.