By Ji-woong Moon, Kim Jeong-beom, Shinhwa
'Fount', a domestic artificial intelligence (AI) robo-advisor fintech company, will advance into the United States. According to the financial investment industry on the 29th, Fount submitted an application for listing approval for two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with the themes of Metaverse and the subscription economy to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 27th (local time).
Mirae Asset Asset Management is the only large domestic asset management company that is making tangible results overseas. Mirae Asset entered the market by acquiring ETF management companies in the United States and Canada. However, Fount chose to enter the U.S. market by creating an index and planning ETF products. It is determined to enter the U.S. $6 trillion ETF market and compete with companies around the world.
Youngbin Kim, CEO of Fount, said, “We have completed the submission of documents for listing on the New York Stock Exchange of two thematic ETFs. We plan to do it,” he said.
In general, if an ETF listing document is submitted to the SEC, the listing will take place within 75 days. Accordingly, the Fount ETF is expected to be listed in New York in October.
Qraft Technologies, an AI company, has already listed and managed four ETFs in the United States. However, Fount is a management company licensed for investment advisory business and discretionary investment business, while Qraft is an information technology (IT) company. So far, there has been no case of a domestic management company listing and managing an ETF in the United States.
Among the ETFs that Fount plans to list, the Metaverse-themed ETF tracks the 'Fount Metaverse Index', a metaverse-themed index developed by Fount. Metaverse companies representing the United States, such as Apple, Facebook, and Roblox, as well as domestic Naver and Kakao are included in the investment target. Unlike the 'Lined Hill Ball Metaverse ETF (META)', the world's first metaverse ETF, it is considered a differentiated investment point to include Naver and Kakao while not including Samsung Electronics.
Subscription economy-themed ETFs are expected to be the first in the world. It also follows the 'Fount subscription economy index' developed by Fount. It is likely to invest in Netflix and Amazon.
Bong-geun Choi, head of Fount, said, "We will use Fount's AI technology to determine index constituents and investment weight," he explained.
Thanks to the strategic collaboration with Exchange Traded Concepts ("ETC"), Fount could file two thematic ETFs to the SEC, leaving other Korean investment managers behind.
ETC provides ETF platform services so that small/medium-sized U.S. investment managers and off-shore investment managers could list white-labeled ETFs on U.S. exchanges. Qraft Technologies launched their AI ETFs also in cooperation with ETC. ETC now manages more than $7bn in AUM, having listed over 50 ETFs.
Mr. Garrett Stevens, CEO of ETC, said, "We provide all services to support the launch and ongoing operations of an ETF, including operational functions and portfolio management."
Fount is also considering adding two ETFs developed and listed on its own in the robo-advisor portfolio. Since January, Fount has been providing a discretionary ETF portfolio discretionary service that invests in various ETFs around the world listed in the US. It is also planning to expand the business of developing and distributing various theme-type ETF products in collaboration with domestic management companies.
Fount is a robo-advisor company that provides investment advice and discretionary investment services through an AI algorithm developed in-house.
Based on the 'Fount market score' calculated by combining each country's economic and market indicators, it provides a portfolio of asset allocation tailored to each individual. In November 2017, it received an investment advisory business license, and in February 2018, it secured a discretionary investment business license.
In June 2018, the Robo-Advisor mobile app was launched. The number of customers increased from 2,580 at the end of 2018 to 260,000 at the end of June. Assets under management also increased more than sixfold from 135.9 billion won at the end of 2018 to 870 billion won at the end of last month.
Source: https://www.mk.co.kr/news
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