A spate of new gadget introductions, including the new iPhone and the Apple Watch unveiled Tuesday by Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL), is lifting demand for semiconductors and that is materializing into increased demand for semiconductor exchange traded funds.
Chip ETFs have been surging this year, hauling in cash along the way after investors pulled $407 from the funds in the four years leading up to 2014, reports Eric Lam for Bloomberg.
With a 23% year-to-date advance heading into Wednesday, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NasdaqGM: SOXX) has added nearly $205 million in assets this year. SOXX, which turned 13 in July, had less than $366 million in assets under management as of April 7, but that number has since swelled to $537.7 million. [Chip ETFs Prove Durable]
SOXX is home to just 31 stocks and represents a play on the largest semiconductor names with Intel (NasdaqGS: INTC), Texas Instruments (NasdaqGS: TXN) and Qualcomm (NasdaqGS: QCOM) combining for about 24% of the ETF’s weight.
The $394.9 million Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSEArca: SMH) has added $19.3 million in new assets this year. Like SOXX, SMH is heavily allocated to the largest chip names with Intel accounting for nearly 21.8% of the ETF’s weight.