FLKR
Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF
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South Korea overtakes India as world’s sixth-largest stock market
Shifting 10-15% of my DCA portfolio to Small Caps ex-US & EM (LatAm focus) any thoughts?
Recommended stocks / ETFs that are not closely tied to the US market
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The KOSPI retail crowd has been one of the most aggressive short-squeeze targets for years — they pile in hard and hedge funds know it. The CPI print yesterday gave everything a bounce but watching $EWJ and $FLKR on MarketCast, Korean exposure is still lagging US recovery by a noticeable margin. Retail catching knives internationally while US indices rip is a tale as old as time.
KORU usually sets the pumping value for its cousins, which include EWY, FLXK, FLKR, and, on occasion, SMH. A strange casino.
I'm not exactly trying to panic sell. I'm wondering when is the right time to convert to SKHY instead of holding the Korean ETF. FLKR is 27.4% SK Hynix. Thanks.
I'm currently holding FLKR which I bought with piss poor timing (avg $66). My intention was to hold SK Hynix before the IPO. Should I sell now and buy SKHY or wait for something? Is the spread shrinking?
looking to strike a balance between long term investor and regard. maybe FLKR is a good fit cause it is an index fund that is nearly 50% dram
Thanks for this post. Had to google what you meant. Bought FLKR over the past month because it was down from the ATH and I figured the US listing would boost the value of the SK Hynix portion of it (like 25% of the entire fund). Turns out, SK Hynix just added totally new shares and made the existing ones worth less. Didn't even know that was a thing. Guess I'm a bag holder. Woo...
Ya FLKR seems like a fine way to get exposure. Obv it's <50% memory, but diversification isn't a bad thing. DRAM is certainly the more focused, the MER is a bit high IMO and I also think NAND names are overvalued, which FLKR largely avoids. At the same time though, considering the ADR premium, that MER seems like a steal in contrast. High MERs can kill your returns over the long term, but memory, IMO, is not a long term hold and I doubt I'll still have it in my portfolio 3-5 years from now, so I'm fine paying that for convenience. I think it's a high risk \~12 month buy at the moment, though I could extend the trade as new info comes to light.
What do you think of FLKR the Korean ETF that holds primarily SK and Samsung? Has a lower expense ratio. Was hoping to get a lot of SK exposure in my 401k but I’m nervous about DRAM being a better play, just don’t like the fees they have
I appreciate the response. I mostly trade in my 401k that’s why I chose FLKR
u/November10_1775 EWY is another option. It's better than FLKR if you're trading while FLKR is better if you're investing. EWY has much more volume and can go up more on a given day than FLKR (while the reverse is less likely to happen from what I've seen). For example, it went up 0.3% more on the 8th and 0.4% more on the 9th. FLKR is better for investing because it has a lower expense ratio and in the long run tends to perform just about the same as EWY.
Isn’t FLKR better? Strictly for SK
$FLKR is a good choice as well. I like the trading volume of $EWY as I usually swing trade that position and hold & hold $VXUS, $EWJ, and $VPL b/c I am a degenerative gambler.
> EWY FLKR? Expense Ratio is a lot lower.
They don’t make good TVs. Hands are too small. FLKR is the ticker, though.
Bought more today via FLKR. Likely will buy more routinely through the EOY
Bought more Samsung and SK Hynix today via FLKR.
Expense Ratio EWY 0.59% vs FLKR 0.09%
You can short FLKR, but sadly the KORZ inverse etf no longer exists
Well I’m glad I sold my FLKR holdings.
I’ve been buying FLKR as an early entry to SK Hynix?
> The stock is up 34% over the last 5 years and down 25% YTD, including the worst month since 2008. If someone is a shareholder for the last 2-3 years, they've listened to endless discussion of all things MSFT is doing in AI but haven't participated and could have done better in JNJ instead, which is the stock equivalent of watching paint dry. > > Someone could have closed their eyes and pointed to a random semiconductor name over the last 2-3 years and probably done better or substantially better. This information isn't useful or actionable. Past performance is not proof of future returns. Value investing does require a lot more patience than growth/momentum investing. Because it can take years for EPS or shareholder distributions to catch up with the losses from earnings multiple contractions. You shouldn't buy a stock because someone on Reddit told you to, you should only buy it if you actually believe in it FLKR was a good example. I bought in in 2024 due to my bullish view on SK Hynix/Samsung and overall cheap valuations. I watched as my investment dove 10-20% in a matter of months despite strong fundamentals. But it took patience before investor sentiment to turn around once SK Hynix and Samsung started making a lot of money.
I’d like to get into SPCX but not above $100. I’m taking the sidelines on this and hoping there’s a correction that closely matches Morningstar’s fair value price. Maybe 50% drop in 6-9 months? RKLB seems like a good alternative in the interim. As for some of the other names here, I took a more broader approach taking SOXQ, FLKR for some exposure to these companies and a small position in LITE as well. I’m trying to figure out what else to buy.
Yeah, I just prefer FLKR combined with SMH. FLKR isn’t thematic, but it gets me exposure to the theme with a low E/R and more diversification. Part of why I went that way is that I was excessively concentrated in US companies and was looking for excuses to buy foreign market ETFs.
Hold FLKR or some other SK Hynix containing instrument.
FLKR gets you quite a bit of SK Hynix.
FLKR. Total Korean market. It’s like 33% SK Hynix
Same applies to FLKR as EWY, their holdings are only marginally different.
FLKR will get you about the same exposure as DRAM will, and with a lower ER and some diversification.
Something I’ve contemplated a lot. Seems like ex-US has participated in every US drawdown, and also has had a few extras. And it only outperforms like 10% of the time. I buy Ex-US ETFs with a minority of my money, only because they have higher dividends without being designed specifically to chase them. Offsets my margin interest while maximizing my diversification. I don’t expect them to outperform, except maybe FLKR or AVDV.
Could be. I chose SMH and FLKR for my concentrated semis exposure. I’ll keep buying SMH and FLKR on drops, and averaging into FLKR routinely.
I’ll buy more FLKR, AVDV, VXUS, probably some other stuff. I’m buying US ETFs, also, but in smaller amounts unless VOO goes -10% from ATH.
You are spot on! I bought EWY and FLKR in last July, and added more in Nov and Dec. I trimmed it in Feb, and re-added more 3 times in March. I trimmed a lot when it got close to 52 week high about a week ago. I reacquired them on Friday. I see a lot of value in those 2 companies and KospI, so I’m a long term holder. Having said that, when they go up parabolically, I think turning a bit of them to dry powder is a prudent thing to do.
Fair enough. My assumption is that sometimes when people buy calls, they also buy shares with the intention of holding much longer. As far as deliberately avoiding diversification, FLKR and DRAM have about the same concentration of SK Hynix. So if your goal is exposure to that, they’re not different. If memory goes cyclical later (again, I’m assuming someone might also buy shares), DRAM will turn down a little harder than FLKR, and may even delist. So, I’d say FLKR has no disadvantages whatsoever for someone looking for SK Hynix exposure, and might have some advantages over DRAM. Buying calls on either, probably doesn’t matter much.
FLKR has similar SK Hynix exposure with much lower expense ratio, and built in diversification away from a single sector.
FLKR under $40 back in March was a steal.
Korea is actually down 14% today relative to yesterday, see FLKR/EWY. The losses from SK are from Korea's market from last night before today's market implosion.
I feel you. I came close to buying at the top, but I'm a stingy bitch and didn't like the price tag, so i debated FLKR or EWY and fortunately debated too long to buy in,
SPMO, QQQM, VONG, AVDV, VXUS, FLKR, SMH, XLK, lots of single stocks.
Hyundai will be a winner no matter what. The business, I mean….hopefully that translates to share price appreciation. FLKR holds a lot of Hyundai, in addition to Samsung and SK Hynix. That’s kinda my thesis on buying FLKR (plus SMH) instead of DRAM. Great E/R, too.
Looks like I'm loading up EWY and FLKR tomorrow.
FLKR. SPMO, QQQM, VONG. Probably some individual stocks, like SOUN. We’ll see what’s hurting the most in a few minutes.
It’s in DRAM. Alternatively, you can buy SMH and FLKR to get a lower expense ratio with the same top holdings and sector/industry diversification.
I got FLKR for exposure
Solid state batteries. Samsung SDI has S-line built in 2022, and are on track supposedly for planned 2027 commercial release of solid state. All these drones, robots, EVs, etc., will benefit hugely from highly energy density, lightweight, small, rapid rechargeable and non-incendiary batteries. Especially if they want to have onboard, high energy processes like AI. Whoever gets the solid state contracts will instantly have a more competitive product. These will also burn a ton of silver supply as each cell has a gram of silver in it. Samsung has been buying billions in silver and years of silver mine outputs on spec. Good luck buying it though. I had to open up an international account. It is only a tiny fraction of EWY and FLKR, and a few other ETFs have as much as 4-7% but are also balanced out by industries that will lose - lithium mining and batteries - reducing the overall benefit to the SDI component.
Yup, I’m holding FLKR.
FLKR is also loaded with Samsung and SK Hynix, is more diversified in it’s other holdings, and has a much lower expense ratio.
FLKR. Less than half of the fees of EWY.
I was just looking at FLKR’s (S Korea ETF) chart and noticed it didn’t move below its 1yr SMA during the dip this year. I guess it was just that high above it before the dip. Thought that was interesting, though, since it is so high beta.
FLKR isn't really a semi ETF Not that it's bad - just bought a good bit myself - but that and EWY are more South Korea bets
Jesus dude how big of an order do you do if FLKR volume is too low for you
FLKR way lower expense ratio. People need to beware those there’s turmoil going on in sk over profit sharing with workers and worker strikes
why not FLKR or DRAM, or ... What else is there?
Also, FLKR ETF in any US brokerage
Sounds like I might get better entry soon on my FLKR DCA.
VOO is S&P500 US top 500 large caps VTI is US total market They are both broad market but VOO covers 500 stocks while VTI covers 3,500 stocks. I like the USA focus. VOO is a great core etf. It adds a lot of utility to keep your portfolio robust. SMH is a very impressive high volatility etf which is good if you have the iron stomach for it. It's a great for international stocks like TSM. ARKX/UFO are a very large chunk and I'm not seeing their future performance really justify their large position in your portfolio. You would be better off just buying a few shares of rocketlab. It would be nice to see some of the SMH fund going to QQQM or SPMO so you have layers to your AI sector exposure. Maybe even FLKR for south korea's samsung and sk hynix would be a nice compliment. It would be nice to see some of the ARKX/UFO go to AVUV because there are a lot of great small US companies you don't carry. Overall I like how ambitious your portfolio is. I don't have the stomach for such large plays of SMH, ARKX, and UFO but it's great to see you are branching out your portfolio to pickup some stocks not held in VOO.
Ohh I hadn’t heard of FLKR. New to this. I also have a low risk tolerance lol
If you're playing the AI memory trade FLKR and EWY both have the problem that they're about 50% SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics and 50% other random Korean stuff you don't care about.
Yeah, I hold FLKR. Used to hold EWY, which has higher ER.
FLKR is a passive South Korea index sponsored by Franklin Templeton which includes these and also some growing defense companies. Its fee is 0.09%, lower than iShares.
If outperforming US indexes is your metric, why not just go with Korea or Taiwan? FLKR has been great for me. Been eyeing FLTW as well but haven’t jumped in yet
In my case my horizon is 30 years. - Despite believing they are overvalued, I still hold some SP500/total market index funds just to save myself from FOMO, just a smaller part of my portfolio than most people. - I'm continuing to hold onto my FLKR shares despite the insane performance of the past year(I'm up 270%). In part because I don't want to pay taxes on gains, but also because I think the windfalls to SK Hynix/Samsung workers will really pump the Korean economy(SK Hynix workers getting $477k bonus this year, potential $900k next year, Samsung workers likely getting similar.). I'm reinvesting the dividends elsewhere though. - Buying long term US 30 year TIPS/VGLT. Bond yields are higher than SP500 earnings yield for the first time since the tech bubble. I think a recession is also likely soon. Either interest rates fall due to recession, and I make as much as an 80% gain in short term and then go back in equities, or I earn what I consider to be a reasonable return long term if interest rates stay elevated. - Some REITs for exposure to real estate. - Some consumer staples companies trading at very cheap valuations just to diversify a bit, these are all small holdings.
DRAM, SOXQ, FLKR... buy and hold like a ghey boomer. Trade lotto options on the top-10 tickers in those funds.
DRAM, SOXQ, FLKR... all solid plays here, papi. you good.
Yes, this is true. This is another plus of the FLKR ETF. There’s a lot of good Korean stuff growing in market share both domestic and export. Post ‘22, a lot of countries are looking their way.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. FLKR is the US-traded South Korean index ETF.
If you can't get on a brokerage to trade Korean stocks, you can get exposure through ETFs focused on Korean markets. FLKR and MKOR are two that are popping
FLKR is a decent ETF. It's basically 50% hynix and Samsung. But yes. Supposedly they are working on getting an ADR listed or something stateside.
Haven’t yet calculated the split I want to land on. I’m already in SMH. When I looked at DRAM to see what I want that isn’t already in SMH, I decided that what I really want to add is Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. And FLKR seems to have the most exposure when I sort for expense ratios. At first glance, 50/50 does seem reasonable, though.
I looked into DRAM yesterday at the suggestion of someone here, but decided that a combo of SMH and FLKR would get me the exposures I want with a lower expense ratio. Probably trading some performance for diversification.
Yup, indirectly via FLKR. But I wish I bought more! Should've went all in on it, but I have low risk tolerance so I stayed diversified.
I'd just hold FLKR for SK Hynix/Samsung exposure. It's about 50% SK Hynix/Samsung. 50% of it is SK Hynix/Samsung. IMO the rest of the Korean market is still relatively cheap so I don't mind holding that as well.
I have FLKR which is essentially the same as EWY but with more holdings and lower fees, but with much worse trading volume/liquidity. I think this is bullish. I remember hyping up SK Hynix and Samsung back in Dec 2024, telling people to buy in to EWY. But a lot of people didn't want to hold the rest of the Korean market(concerns about demographics, tariffs, etc). Giving investors direct access to SK Hynix can definitely attract capital.
I hold VOO 50%, VXUS 20%, AVDV 20%, and FLKR 10%. This diversification has been a great balancer, especially against AI disruption....That said, even Asian equities have been impacted by current events in the Middle East.... AVDV hasn't been impacted nearly as much.
Yes, they're practically the same. Only FLKR is .009 and EWY is .036...FOUR times the expense ratio. But, if that doesn't matter to you. No worries.
EWJV for Japan. EWY and FLKR for Korea. Bonus Japan: SSUMY (not an ETF)
If you like MU, buy FLKR. The fund is heavily concentrated, with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix alone making up nearly 40% of its total assets. This gives the ETF a significant tilt toward the technology sector. It's still cheap, but will shoot up soon.
I like Korea and Japan in general (tho I think it still has more dip to go) but I'm confused how the KOSPI is down so hard yet stuff like EWY/FLKR are up...how can Samsung/Hynix be so down today but ETFs are up when they're like 50% of the portfolio? I thought I was starting to get the hang of finance but that math ain't matching for me.
I bought FLKR calls at its 52 week high on premarket 😭🙏. https://ibb.co/nMJQR0s1
I just bought this Monday I believe because it was listed as undervalued with great upside. Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF: FLKR. Down 10% yesterday. Fkin Trump!!!!!. I know it will recover but damn!!!! #
I put half in $DRTS to change the way cancer is treated. The rest is diversified into: BWET GDMN FMTM FLKR This gives you oil shipping futures, gold, momentum and South Korea. I’ll put this single stock and four ETFs up against any other portfolio over the next twelve months. NFA. DYOR.
Thinking of picking up some more FLKR during this dip.
Looks like FLKR has a very heavy 22% holding of samsung and some remarkable growth in the past few months. It's almost practically a samsung/SK Hynix stock instead of an etf.
I was holding stocks but found it to be stressful with the AI disruption and it's impact on tech, especially. Most institutional investors and a god part of retail investors starting going for generic US holdings or international. That's why I maintain a core position of VTI and do a 50/50 with international. VTI 50% , VXUS 15%, AVDV 15%, FLKR 10%, SOXQ 10%... Run that in your simulator.
Bot or not... I've found random posts that made huge impacts. I've been investing heavily in International and wanted an ETF that accessed Samsung and found FLKR. None of my searches even mentioned this ETF.
Stocks are volatile. Better to find EFTs. VTI for core position and shine international, like AVDV and FLKR. In 2025, the Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:FLKR) delivered a robust performance with an annual return of approximately 75.00%. As of March 2, 2026, the fund's year-to-date (YTD) performance remains strong, gaining 47.02% since the start of the year. Wish I'd found this sooner.
It's all about dry powder right now. This administration is getting desperate and every move they make tends to move the needle to the extreme. They know they've lost the midterms... what can they do to prevent that? Their Hail Mary will be something extreme... like instituting the insurrection act and invoking absolute martial law. How would the economy and markets react to a constitutional crisis? It likely won't be business as usual. Now is the time to hedge and position yourself defensively. My core is 40/60 US/Intl... VTI and VXUS, AVDV, FLKR. I make swing trades to benefit from the volatility. The rotation from tech to everything else has created a great environment for this.