Hong Kong’s CSOP plans first overseas Kospi 200 ETF as US investors chase leveraged Korea chip exposure An electronic board at a Woori Bank dealing room in central Seoul shows the Kospi at 7,876 during Friday trading. (Yonhap) Hong Kong's CSOP Asset Management is preparing to roll out more exchange-traded funds tracking South Korean equities later this year, as a relentless rally in Seoul fuels global demand for exposure to Asia's best-performing major market.CSOP is working to list an ETF tracking the Kospi 200 index on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the second half of this year, industry reports showed Sunday. The product would mark the first overseas-listed ETF tracking Korea's blue-chip index, giving offshore investors a more direct route into the market.The launch would add to a small but growing pool of overseas products tied to Korean shares, as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix turn Korea into one of Asia's most closely watched AI and memory-chip trades.CSOP last year rolled out the world's first leveraged and inverse products tracking the two Korean chipmakers. According to Samsung Securities, CSOP's leveraged ETF tracking SK hynix has seen its net assets approach 10 trillion won ($662.2 billion), after adding 1.2 trillion won so far this year. Its leveraged Samsung Electronics ETF has nearly 3 trillion won in net assets, with daily trading volume averaging 660 billion won."Investment in Korea has mostly centered on MSCI Korea, but the introduction of a Kospi 200 ETF is expected to improve global investors' access to the Korean stock market," said Lim Eun-hye, a senior analyst at Samsung Securities. "Demand for Korean exposure is likely to grow, particularly among Hong Kong pension funds and institutions."Demand is also spreading to the US, where Korea's chip giants are drawing growing ETF interest.Last month, Leverage Shares, a Connecticut-based asset manager focused on single-stock and thematic exchange-traded products, listed the Roundhill Memory ETF, a memory chip-themed product in which Samsung Electronics and SK hynix account for about half of the underlying holdings. The ETF, listed at $27.76 on the New York Stock Exchange on April 2, has nearly doubled to $52.82 as of Friday's close. Its total net assets have surpassed $10 billion.Leverage Shares' affiliate Themed ETFs is also preparing to launch a fund designed to deliver twice the daily performance of the Roundhill Memory ETF, according to a preliminary prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month.According to the filings, the proposed fund, tentatively named the Leverage Shares 2X Long Memory Daily ETF, was described in the filing as "not suitable for all investors," pointing to the riskier edge of the overseas Korea trade as demand moves beyond passive exposure.Korean brokerages are also preparing to launch the country's first single-stock leveraged and inverse products this month to meet surging local demand. About eight firms are set to list roughly 16 ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix on Wednesday.