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South Korean asset managers are eagerly introducing diverse fund products tracking the Indian stock market, seeking lucrative opportunities in its strong growth.

Korea Investment Management, a big-name asset manager here, listed two active funds tracking India-domiciled companies Tuesday, the ACE India Consumer Power Active ETF and ACE India Market Representative Big5 Group Active ETF.

According to the firm, Korea Investment Management is the first company in Asia to launch an actively managed fund that tracks the Indian stock market.

The former tracks Indian companies in sectors expected to grow, from home appliances and automobiles to health care, while the latter invests in the top five groups representing the Indian economy, including the country’s top conglomerates Reliance Industries Limited, Tata Group, Adani Group, Bajaj Group and Larsen & Tourbo.

“India is likely to continue growth, following the same path as China,” Hyun Dong-sik, head of the overseas business division at Korea Investment Management, said at a press event Monday. “India's gross domestic product is similar to that of China in 2006. The fund encompasses industries that performed well in China at the time.”

Bolstered by its population of over 1.4 billion, India is expected to be world's third largest economy by 2027. Its stock market has been on a bull run in recent years, with the total market cap sitting at around $5 trillion, adding over $1 trillion in less than a year.

With the addition of two new ETF products introduced by Korea Investment Management, there are now nine India-focused ETFs listed on the Korea Exchange, the country’s sole bourse operator. The fund products, including those introduced by crosstown rivals Mirae Asset Global Investments and Samsung Asset Management, track diverse assets from India’s benchmark stock index the Nifty 50, consumer goods companies and top Indian conglomerates.

Portfolio manager KB Asset Management announced Tuesday it has listed the KB Star India Nifty 50 Index Fund on Friday. The public offering fund tracks Nifty 50, with the constituents being Mumbai-based financial provider HDFC Bank, Reliance Industry, tech firm Infosis, Indian conglomerate ITC and more.

Though there have been ETF products that track the Nifty 50, it is the first time for a local asset manager to introduce a public offering fund tracking the index, the firm said. While investors have to sign up through brokerage houses to invest in public offering funds, KB aims to appeal to investors who may be unfamiliar with ETF investments.

“Utilizing the fund, investors can tap into leading Indian companies at a lower cost in comparison with active funds,” said Lee Seok-hee, head of pension wealth management division at KB Asset Management.

“This will be an efficient opportunity for investors to bet on the growth of the Indian market with their pension assets,” Lee said.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)