Roundhill Investments has submitted a filing for a Samsung Group ETF aimed at giving US investors access to the broad ecosystem of Samsung-affiliated companies that remain largely unreachable through standard domestic brokerage accounts.

The filing, dated August 12, 2026, addresses a structural barrier: the majority of Samsung's corporate network trades exclusively on Korean exchanges, without American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) to bridge the gap for US-based buyers. For investors seeking exposure to the Samsung Group beyond Samsung Electronics, viable options have been virtually nonexistent.

Samsung Group is one of South Korea's largest chaebols — family-controlled conglomerates that dominate the country's economy — spanning electronics, batteries, IT services, engineering, life insurance, and securities. Yet despite the group's global footprint, the vast majority of its listed affiliates trade only on the Korea Exchange, leaving US investors with limited pathways to participate in the group's growth beyond its flagship electronics arm.

Expanding Beyond a Single Issuer

The proposed ETF would go beyond a single company, potentially covering multiple Samsung-affiliated firms trading on the Korean market.

This marks a departure from Roundhill's earlier Samsung-focused effort. In August 2022, the firm filed for the Roundhill TRAX Samsung Shares ETF (ticker: SAMS), which was structured to track Samsung Electronics specifically through swaps and derivatives. The latest filing takes a different approach by targeting a broader swath of the Samsung corporate family.

Roundhill's Semiconductor Momentum

Roundhill has been building traction in semiconductor-focused products. The firm's DRAM Memory ETF, which launched on April 2, 2026, surpassed $1 billion in assets within just 10 trading days of its debut. Samsung is a significant holding in that fund, with roughly 25% of the DRAM ETF's total exposure allocated to the company.

The Access Problem

While Samsung Electronics maintains a widely traded ADR, most other entities within the Samsung Group do not. Purchasing shares of Samsung SDI (the battery division), Samsung SDS (the IT services arm), or Samsung Engineering requires a brokerage account with direct access to the Korea Exchange — something most US retail investors lack.

ETFs structured with swap-based or derivative instruments can offer a workaround, delivering exposure without requiring investors to trade directly on foreign exchanges. South Korean equities have also historically traded at a discount to global peers — a phenomenon widely referred to as the "Korea Discount" — driven by factors including complex cross-shareholdings within chaebols and relatively low dividend payouts. In recent years, Korean policymakers have pursued initiatives aimed at improving shareholder returns and narrowing that valuation gap, adding a macroeconomic dimension to investor interest in the market.

Early-Stage Filing

The filing remains in its preliminary stages. No confirmed launch date or final structural details have been announced.