“The Dancing Sun,” a sensational unmounted yellow colored diamond of 204.36 carats, is on display when Christie‘s unveils the exhibit of Luxury Week, including jewelry, handbags, watches and sneakers on June 4, 2021. (UPI-Yonhap)

South Korea’s only exchange-traded fund that focuses on global luxury goods stocks has outperformed Korea’s benchmark index for the Korea Exchange’s main board, the Kospi, over the course of 13 months since its launch, data showed June 9.

The product, the NH-Amundi Hanaro Global Luxury S&P ETF, has gained 78.1 percent since its launch May 12 last year through Tuesday, beating the Kospi, which gained 67.8 percent during the same period, according to data from NH-Amundi Asset Management. In terms of an annual return through June 8, the ETF product rose 54.7 percent, while the Kospi jumped 48.7 percent.

NH-Amundi also said the product had raised more than 25 billion won ($22.4 million) as of June 8.

The news comes amid anticipation for pent-up demand for luxury goods as the global vaccination effort is slowly normalizing the fallout and restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The thematic ETF is aimed at holding 80 listed stocks associated with the consumer discretionary sector, including luxury goods makers LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Kering, Compagnie Financiere Richemont and Hermes, as well as high-end vehicle makers such as Tesla and Daimler.

The passive nonhedged product tracks the performance of the benchmark S&P Global Luxury Index, which the product slightly underperformed by 1.5 percentage points over a 12-month investment period.

NH-Amundi is a 70:30 joint venture of Korea’s NongHyup Financial Group and France-based Amundi Asset Management. It is Korea’s seventh-largest asset management company, overseeing 54 trillion won in assets.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)