EWY
AI fever, now with extra leverage
Asia’s AI trade is no longer just a trade — it’s a full-blown crowd scene. A Hong Kong-listed 2x leveraged SK Hynix product has ballooned to about $13 billion, more than tripling in two months and becoming Hong Kong’s second-largest ETF.
That’s not normal growth. That’s "everybody and their cousin just discovered the same theme" growth. According to The Kobeissi Letter, the fund hit that size less than eight months after launch, which would make it the fastest ETF asset build in Asia and one of the fastest anywhere.
Why this matters for your portfolio
The bigger story is the chain reaction behind it:
- South Korea sits at the center of the AI supply chain thanks to its high-bandwidth memory chips
- SK Hynix is a key HBM supplier for AI systems built around NVIDIA’s GPUs
- Microsoft has also been spending big on AI infrastructure in the region, including a multitrillion-yen Japan investment plan
That helps explain why the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, EWY, has been on a ridiculous run — up more than 100% this year, with investors treating Korean tech like it’s the VIP section of the AI party.
The risk hiding in the glow
When leverage starts setting records, the upside story gets louder, but so does the unwind risk. If AI spending keeps humming, these names can stay scorching hot. If momentum cracks, leveraged products tend to discover gravity in a hurry.
Big picture: this isn’t just about one ETF. It’s a snapshot of how hard investors are piling into the AI supply chain — and how frothy that pile is getting.