Korea Investment Management Selects Bloomberg Indices for Global Metaverse ETF

Globally representative digital media and technology ETF capitalizes on growing investor interest in emerging metaverse equities

Seoul – Bloomberg today announced that Korea Investment Management Co., one of South Korea’s largest asset managers, has adopted the Bloomberg Global Digital Media & Tech Select Index as the underlying benchmark for its newly launched ‘KIM Navigator Global Metaverse Tech Active ETF’ in South Korea. Derived from the Bloomberg World Large-Mid-Small Index, the index aims to represent the performance of a set of global communications and technology companies related to developing the digital future.

“With ETFs in Korea focused on the metaverse far outpacing the broader market in Korea, investors have found an investment theme that captures the huge potential of our digital future,” said Seongin Jeong, Head of ETFs at Korea Investment Management Co. “To build on this interest, we turned to Bloomberg to help us develop a digital media and technology index that captures 200 of its largest companies worldwide. Their trusted index methodology and advanced benchmarking tools gave us the confidence to launch what we feel, is the most globally representative metaverse themed ETF of its kind.”

Jeong also added, “There are currently only four metaverse thematic ETFs listed in Korea that invest in Korean equities, but only two metaverse ETFs in the whole world that have a global equity universe. We therefore expect this product to receive plenty of attention from investors.”

The KIM Navigator Global Metaverse Tech Active ETF will use Bloomberg indices as its reference index and it will be launched as an active ETF that is managed by portfolio managers with more than 11 years of investment experience. Bloomberg recently announced the expansion of its global equity index range, including emerging market country benchmarks, sector, and thematic index capabilities. Bloomberg supports ETF providers globally with advanced index capabilities, based on its trusted data, global distribution, and fully integrated investment workflow solutions.

“We are pleased to continue building on our partnership with Korea Investment Management,” said Ji Zhuang, Bloomberg’s APAC Head of Indices. “ETF providers value our comprehensive global equity index offering, rigorous index construction process and efficient customization capability, to help them bring timely products to the market. As thematic investing grows, we also look forward to providing indices that incorporate world-class thematic research from Bloomberg Intelligence to capture fast-evolving equity opportunities.”

Through Bloomberg’s growing equity capabilities and acquisition of the Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCOM) in 2020, Bloomberg is also able to offer a full spectrum of multi-asset offerings for investors. Standard and alt-weighted asset-allocation benchmarks can now combine equity, fixed income, FX, commodities, and crypto. Bloomberg ESG indices will offer exposure to proprietary and third-party ESG scores. Bloomberg Terminal users have full access to Bloomberg’s index families at IN <GO> and PORT <GO>.

Bloomberg Index Services Limited (BISL), a Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) authorized benchmark administrator and subsidiary of Bloomberg, is licensing equity indices for use as financial benchmarks. Bloomberg provides an independent, transparent approach to indexing for customers across the globe. For more information, please visit Bloomberg Indices.

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About Bloomberg Index Services Limited

Bloomberg’s index team has a proven track record in creating industry-standard and bespoke indices across asset classes, including market-leading fixed income and commodity indices. Bloomberg Index Services Limited (BISL) takes an innovative approach to delivering strategic benchmarks that help market participants address their evolving needs. As an integral part of Bloomberg, BISL has access to an unparalleled breadth of trusted data and reliable technology for calculations, analytics and workflow automation, along with distribution capabilities that can help amplify the visibility of our customers’ products.

About Korea Investment Management Co Ltd

Launched in 1974 as the very first asset management company in Korea, Korea Investment Management (‘KIM’) is a leading investment manager in Korea with more than US$60bn in assets under management (as of November 30, 2021). KIM offers a wide range of investment products to both retail investors and institutional investors including governments, pension funds, and insurance companies. ‘KINDEX’ is an ETF brand of KIM (with ‘Navigator’ used for its active ETF brand), managing more than 52 ETF products that track domestic and overseas indices, making it the fourth largest ETF provider in Korea.

Media Contact

Robert Koh, rkoh22@bloomberg.net, +852-2977-2101