Following global success of acts like BTS and BLACKPINK, new fund launches to let investors back K-pop companies

Credit: Erik Pendzich / Alamy

Following the global success of K-Pop megastars like BTS and Blackpink, a new Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) has launched in the US to let investors back the entertainment companies behind these acts.

CT Investments, a subsidiary of Contents Technologies, announced today that it is launching the KPOP and Korean Entertainment ETF on the NYSE Arca exchange.

The KPOP ETF started trading Thursday (September 1) under the ticker KPOP.

According to a statement issued by CT Investments, “With the launch of the KPOP and Korean Entertainment ETF, investors now have the ability to access Korea Exchange-listed companies in the entertainment and interactive media industries that have exposure to the potential growth in K-pop and the broader Korean content industry”.

The statement announcing the ETF adds that the fund “is designed to provide exposure to the Korea Exchange-listed entertainment and interactive media & services companies engaged in K-pop businesses”.

The underlying benchmark of the Fund is the ‘The KPOP Index’, a 30-stock equity index that the team behind the fund says “provides focused exposure to the Korea Exchange-listed companies engaged in the entertainment industry and the interactive media & services industry”.

Included in that index of 30 companies are Korea-based entertainment giants like HYBE, YG Entertainment and JYP.

Jangwon Lee, the CEO of CT Investments and Contents Technologies notes that the global market for K-pop “is still at an early stage of growth”, and suggests that the “KPOP and Korean Entertainment ETF will offer thematic exposure to key companies in the Korean entertainment and media industry that stand to benefit from this secular trend”.

Jangwon Lee is also CEO Seoul-based Beyond Music, which, claiming to be Asia’s largest single music IP asset management company, has raised $200 million to buy up rights in Asia.

“We are launching this ETF to provide an opportunity for global fans who love K-pop to participate in the potential growth and development of the K-pop industry as well as investors access to Korea-listed companies that are driving the future of global content industry forward.”

Jangwon Lee, CT Investments

Jangwon Lee, the CEO of CT Investments and Contents Technologies, added: “K-pop, which has become a global keyword, has become part of mainstream culture for fans in Korea as well as around the world.”

“We are launching this ETF to provide an opportunity for global fans who love K-pop to participate in the potential growth and development of the K-pop industry as well as investors access to Korea-listed companies that are driving the future of global content industry forward.”Music Business Worldwide

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