Asia L/S Equity PM/Macro/Thematic Idea Generation

Rikki Malik

Commodities

<ul>
<li>A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook.</li>
<li>No sign yet of a reversal in US government bonds and the dollar.</li>
<li>Brent Oil still above $100 despite exports moving back to pre-war levels</li>
</ul>


A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook.
No sign yet of a reversal in US government bonds and the dollar.
Brent Oil still above $100 despite exports moving back to pre-war levels


Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Event-Driven

Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200 / Event-Driven

Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200 (KOSPI2 INDEX EQUITY)

<ul>
<li>Since short selling was banned in November 2023, short interest has plunged in Korea as shorts were covered. Markets have not done much over the last 16 months though. </li>
<li>Foreign investor holdings have dropped from 32.05% in July to 28.57%. The top 25 stocks bought by foreign investors outperformed the top 25 stocks sold by 128% in 16 months.</li>
<li>There will be trade opportunities across indices, pref/ords, index migrations and deletions, potential market upgrades and overvalued stocks being sold.</li>
</ul>


Since short selling was banned in November 2023, short interest has plunged in Korea as shorts were covered. Markets have not done much over the last 16 months though. 
Foreign investor holdings have dropped from 32.05% in July to 28.57%. The top 25 stocks bought by foreign investors outperformed the top 25 stocks sold by 128% in 16 months.
There will be trade opportunities across indices, pref/ords, index migrations and deletions, potential market upgrades and overvalued stocks being sold.


Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas

Director, Head of Research, Smartkarma

Pranav Rao

Director, Head of Research

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

Research Reinvented

Korea Stock Exchange Kospi Index / Event-Driven

Korea Stock Exchange Kospi Index (KOSPI INDEX)

<ul>
<li>Welcome to Curator’s Cut — a fortnightly roundup of standout themes from the 1,500+ insights published on Smartkarma.</li>
<li>In this cut, we uncover large- and small-cap opportunities in South Korea, examine whether it's time for a luxury rebound, and assess some opportunities in the insurance sector. </li>
<li>Want to dig deeper? Comment or message with the themes you’d like to see highlighted next.</li>
</ul>


Welcome to Curator’s Cut — a fortnightly roundup of standout themes from the 1,500+ insights published on Smartkarma.
In this cut, we uncover large- and small-cap opportunities in South Korea, examine whether it's time for a luxury rebound, and assess some opportunities in the insurance sector. 
Want to dig deeper? Comment or message with the themes you’d like to see highlighted next.


Curator's Cut: Seoul Searching, Luxury Lulls & Getting Insurance for Portfolios

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook</li>
<li>Global Bond Yields and the Dollar continue their move higher</li>
<li>Nasdaq prints new highs while weakness lurks beneath the surface</li>
</ul>


A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook
Global Bond Yields and the Dollar continue their move higher
Nasdaq prints new highs while weakness lurks beneath the surface


Overview #79 — Dragged Up or Dragged Down

Derivatives and Quantitative Strategist

Gaudenz Schneider

Equity Derivatives

<ul>
<li>
Context: Korea’s new 2x single-stock ETFs on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix attracted strong early inflows, but performance since launch has been disappointing.</li>
<li>
Mechanics: Daily leveraged ETFs rebalance exposure each day, creating a pro-cyclical pattern: they buy after gains and sell after losses to maintain the 2x target.</li>
<li>
Implication: The structure can enhance returns in trending markets, but choppy conditions can rapidly erode value — making these products best suited to short-term tactical momentum exposure.</li>
</ul>



Context: Korea’s new 2x single-stock ETFs on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix attracted strong early inflows, but performance since launch has been disappointing.

Mechanics: Daily leveraged ETFs rebalance exposure each day, creating a pro-cyclical pattern: they buy after gains and sell after losses to maintain the 2x target.

Implication: The structure can enhance returns in trending markets, but choppy conditions can rapidly erode value — making these products best suited to short-term tactical momentum exposure.


Samsung Elec (005930 KS) & SK Hynix (000660 KS): New 2x Leveraged ETFs Face First Reality Check

South Korea

The KOSPI Index is a capitalization-weighted index of all common shares on the Korean Stock Exchanges. The Index was developed with a base value of 100 as of January 4, 1980. Note: The preferred shares are excluded in calculating the KOSPI Index from June 14, 2002. 

Korea Stock Exchange Kospi Index (KOSPI INDEX)

Overview #81 — More of the Same

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. Current trends have shown no sign yet of reversal. OIl is flowing...

Rikki Malik

Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas

Short selling in Korea commences from Monday. There will be a lot of interest in shorting stocks/sectors depending on how they have performed since...

Brian Freitas

Curator's Cut: Seoul Searching, Luxury Lulls & Getting Insurance for Portfolios

Discover investment opportunities in South Korea, luxury rebound potential, and insurance sector insights in the latest Curator's Cut from...

Pranav Rao

Overview #79 — Dragged Up or Dragged Down

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. We look at the breakout in bond yields and the dollar, which is...

Rikki Malik

Samsung Elec (005930 KS) & SK Hynix (000660 KS): New 2x Leveraged ETFs Face First Reality Check

Yesterday’s double-digit drop in Samsung Elec and SK Hynix sent their leveraged ETFs down roughly 25%. To regain 22 June levels, the ETFs would...

Gaudenz Schneider

Overview #81 — More of the Same

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. Current trends have shown no sign yet of reversal. OIl is flowing...

Rikki Malik

Korea: Short Selling Is Back in March; Trade Ideas

Short selling in Korea commences from Monday. There will be a lot of interest in shorting stocks/sectors depending on how they have performed since...

Brian Freitas

Curator's Cut: Seoul Searching, Luxury Lulls & Getting Insurance for Portfolios

​Discover investment opportunities in South Korea, luxury rebound potential, and insurance sector insights in the latest Curator's Cut from...

Pranav Rao

Overview #79 — Dragged Up or Dragged Down

A review of recent events/data impacting our investment themes and outlook. We look at the breakout in bond yields and the dollar, which is...

Rikki Malik

Samsung Elec (005930 KS) & SK Hynix (000660 KS): New 2x Leveraged ETFs Face First Reality Check

Yesterday’s double-digit drop in Samsung Elec and SK Hynix sent their leveraged ETFs down roughly 25%. To regain 22 June levels, the ETFs would...

Gaudenz Schneider

Discover investment opportunities in South Korea, luxury rebound potential, and insurance sector insights in the latest Curator's Cut from...