Friday, July 10, may have been ordinary for those outside the investment community, but for folks engaged with the market, it marked an opportunity to gain exposure to the second most valuable company in South Korea. On Friday, SK Hynix (SKHY) became available to U.S. investors via the Nasdaq.
Key Takeaways:
- SK Hynix debuted on the Nasdaq on Friday, July 10, to significant fanfare. Its U.S.-listed shares rose by about 14% through the day.
- Many ETFs that focus on South Korea have already invested heavily in the company. SK Hynix accounts for more than 20% of net assets for both the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY ) and the Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF (FLKR ).
- However, not every fund chose to dial in to the chipmaker so heavily. The Matthews Korea Active ETF (MKOR ) only holds a little over 4% of its net assets in SK Hynix. The fund opts for a larger allocation towards Samsung.
For the uninitiated, SK Hynix is a chipmaker that designs and constructs the memory chips that go in a variety of different smartphones, computers, and data centers. Some of its customers include the largest names in the tech scene, like Apple and Nvidia.
SK Hynix’s American depository receipts opened at $170 apiece on Friday. U.S.-listed shares in the company climbed 14% through its opening day alone, underscoring the immense investor enthusiasm for both SK Hynix and chipmakers as a whole.
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Of course, now that SK Hynix is available on the Nasdaq, many South Korea-focused ETFs were eager to add the company to its portfolio. In fact two index-based approaches — the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY ) and the Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF (FLKR ) — dialed heavily into the company. SK Hynix now represents 26.22% of net assets for EWY and 23.74% of net assets for FLKR, respectively.
MKOR's Differentiated Korean Chipmaker Exposure
However, not every South Korean fund opted to invest in SK Hynix with such a heavy hand. For instance, the actively managed Matthews Korea Active ETF (MKOR ) took a more subtle approach investing just a little over 4% in SK Hynix.
Some may be curious why MKOR’s portfolio team opted to take a different approach to such a highly anticipated stock debut. Well, Sojung Park, portfolio manager at Matthews Asia and portfolio manager for MKOR, released a report at the end of 2025 that detailed the key drivers worth watching in South Korea, going forward.
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In the report, Park noted the important role that South Korea’s chipmaking giants play in the AI buildout across the globe. She highlighted SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics as the players leading this market when it comes to high bandwidth memory chips.
“The memory sector has traditionally been highly cyclical and we still expect expansion and contraction in the area,” Park said. “However, over the long term, we believe Korea’s advanced memory chip makers will further build and expand on their solid market positions.”
The Samsung Alternative
Looking at MKOR’s holdings as of July 10, 2026, Samsung actually holds the top spot accounting for 19.4% of net assets. SK Hynix is the fund’s second largest holding, but only at 4.2%. This approach gives MKOR a potent niche over other index funds. For investors who still favor Samsung over SK Hynix, this could certainly make MKOR a more attractive pick.
Moments like these help to illustrate the advantages of a differentiated active approach. When trends are forming, the funds that opt to veer off the beaten path and take a different approach are oftentimes the ones worth keeping a closer eye on.
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