Roundhill fund becomes fastest-growing ETF ever as retail investors seek semiconductor exposure

By Suzanne McGee

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, May 13 (Reuters) - Individual investors who can't look to get capable of the red-hot marketplace for semiconductor stocks person made a five-week-old exchange-traded money the astir palmy ETF motorboat successful ‌history, according to marketplace information and analysts.

Since its motorboat connected April 2, the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) has accumulated ‌more than $6 cardinal successful assets, beating adjacent the blockbuster 2024 debut of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust each measurement of the way.

The trajectory reflects conscionable however ​enamored Wall Street is with the imaginable that booming information halfway request is creating a semipermanent shortage of representation chips to enactment artificial intelligence.

"People are jumping successful with some feet," said Dave Nadig, main concern serviceman astatine ETF Trends, noting that it took lone 10 trading days for DRAM to propulsion successful its archetypal $1 billion.

Last Friday, connected the heels of a banner time for planetary chipmakers, ‌it received $1 cardinal successful nett inflows successful ⁠a azygous trading session. "It's brainsick momentum," helium said.

SOUTH KOREAN EXPOSURE

Traders and marketplace analysts said DRAM has emerged arsenic a compelling mode to enactment successful the semiconductor marketplace roar successful portion due to the fact that it is ⁠simpler than trying to prime retired 1 oregon 2 stocks.

Thomas DiFazio, ETF strategist astatine Roundhill, said astir of the ETF benchmarks successful the semiconductor arena person lone a azygous large representation chipmaker: U.S.-listed Micron.

Many different semiconductor funds, specified arsenic BlackRock's iShares Semiconductor ETF, bash not ​offer ​exposure to Micron's main rivals, South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung ​Electronics, which person been trading astatine grounds levels and ‌are portion of DRAM's portfolio.

"A batch of investors presumption this arsenic a proxy for alluring but different hard-to-access Korean stocks," said Steve Sosnick, marketplace strategist astatine Interactive Brokers, noting that the money besides holds Japanese and Taiwanese players successful the industry.

RETAIL INFLOWS

Vanda Research, which tracks retail trading activity, connected Monday calculated retail investors bought $55 cardinal of the ETF, the largest specified regular inflow from self-directed individuals since its motorboat and much than the aforesaid cohort enactment into stocks similar Nvidia arsenic they sought ‌broader vulnerability to the industry.

"DRAM is rapidly emerging arsenic the poster kid ​for the ongoing semiconductor frenzy," Vanda said successful a enactment to clients.

"I ​can't find an ETF wherever retail investors person bought ​so overmuch successful specified a abbreviated play of time," Viraj Patel, planetary macro strategist astatine Vanda, ‌told Reuters.