Performance
Total return to 23 Oct 2026, distributions reinvested, before franking. ASX figures are to 30 Sept 2026 and gross of franking, so they run higher for franked Australian funds.
What it costs to hold
Management fee plus trading costs, compared with similar funds.
A typical fund among Asia equity funds would cost $360 (0.72% a year), so IKO is $115 cheaper.
Spread is the average gap between buying and selling prices on the ASX. Fees are shown on a flat balance, not compounded on growth. Excludes tax and any adviser or platform fees.
Calendar-year returns
Where the money is
Look-through exposure as at 2 Sept 2026 · 76 securities · top 10 = 61.0%
Country
Sector
Monthly returns
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 24.1 | 18.5 | −22.2 | 31.6 | 29.7 | 1.6 | −17.7 | 5.6 | 5.2 | −19.6 | 46.1YTD | ||
| 2025 | 5.8 | 0.7 | −2.5 | 2.2 | 8.0 | 15.7 | 3.8 | −1.9 | 8.3 | 23.3 | −7.3 | 8.2 | 80.9 |
| 2024 | −6.2 | 8.5 | 4.8 | −5.3 | −4.7 | 7.5 | 1.0 | −4.5 | −2.3 | −2.2 | −5.0 | −3.5 | −12.6 |
| 2023 | 6.6 | −3.2 | 4.9 | −0.7 | 6.9 | −2.5 | 7.2 | −5.1 | −5.1 | −6.0 | 10.5 | 3.5 | 16.5 |
| 2022 | −6.0 | −2.4 | −2.5 | −2.2 | 1.7 | −12.6 | 2.6 | −0.7 | −13.1 | 9.2 | 9.4 | −3.4 | −20.7 |
| 2021 | 3.5 | −3.7 | 4.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 4.1 | −3.8 | −1.5 | −4.4 | −6.2 | 0.2 | 3.5 | −2.5 |
| 2020 | −0.2 | −7.2 | −8.1 | 8.2 | −1.0 | 4.6 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 10.9 | 9.0 | 28.5 |
| 2019 | 5.8 | 0.7 | −4.6 | 1.2 | −7.4 | 6.4 | −4.9 | −2.1 | 5.9 | 2.6 | −0.1 | 4.1 | 6.7 |
| 2018 | 1.5 | −3.7 | 2.2 | 4.6 | −4.6 | −4.3 | −2.2 | 3.6 | 1.9 | −13.9 | 1.9 | 2.6 | −11.4 |
| 2017 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 5.6 | 2.7 | 8.8 | −2.7 | −0.8 | −1.3 | 1.4 | 10.5 | 3.1 | −0.6 | 33.1 |
| 2016 | −3.8 | −1.7 | 6.2 | −0.5 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 5.1 | 2.9 | 0.9 | −3.8 | −1.9 | 5.0 | 9.4 |
| 2015 | 7.8 | 0.1 | 2.8 | 3.6 | −1.7 | −5.5 | −2.9 | −4.9 | 5.3 | 10.4 | −5.8 | −3.0 | 4.6 |
| 2014 | −6.7 | 2.6 | −3.3 | 2.2 | 3.2 | −0.5 | 3.3 | −1.4 | −0.6 | −5.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 | −4.8 |
| 2013 | −4.6 | 6.3 | −6.6 | −1.1 | 7.9 | −5.2 | 8.9 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 5.7 | 1.7 | 21.3 |
| 2012 | 6.1 | 2.7 | 3.6 | −0.5 | −4.7 | −2.6 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 6.1 | −2.9 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 17.7 |
| 2011 | 6.8 | −7.9 | 7.3 | 0.7 | −1.0 | −2.3 | 0.3 | −12.3 | −5.3 | 6.7 | −1.0 | −3.7 | −12.8 |
| 2010 | −1.3 | −2.7 | 6.5 | 3.9 | −5.0 | −0.9 | 3.0 | −1.8 | 2.4 | 0.6 | −8.0 | 15.0 | 10.3 |
| 2009 | −2.0 | −9.2 | 14.7 | 11.6 | −2.6 | −4.1 | 13.2 | 2.1 | 7.7 | −8.8 | −0.5 | 8.6 | 30.3 |
| 2008 | 0.5 | −1.9 | 3.8 | −2.9 | −13.8 | 0.3 | −5.9 | −2.5 | −11.7 | −15.9 | 11.1 | −34.9 |
Total return each month in %, distributions reinvested, before franking. The latest month runs to the last price date. The first year starts from listing.
Top holdings
Most similar funds
Overlap is the share of the portfolio held in common, look-through. Correlation is of daily returns. High overlap means close substitutes.
IKO questions answered
Written from the latest data on this page. General information only, not financial advice.
How diversified is iShares MSCI South Korea ETF?
iShares MSCI South Korea ETF holds 76 securities, and its ten largest positions make up 61.0% of the fund, more concentrated than the 42.2% typical of Asia equity funds. That makes it fairly concentrated.
Its country exposure is almost entirely South Korea (100.0%), and its biggest sector is Information Technology at 53.4%, based on holdings as at 2 Sept 2026.
Which ETFs does IKO double up with most?
IKO shares the most holdings with iShares Asia 50 ETF (IAA) (29% overlap), Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASIA) (26% overlap) and Vaneck MSCI Multifactor Emerging Markets Equity ETF (EMKT) (23% overlap). Overlap is the share of the portfolio the two funds hold in common, looking through to the underlying securities.
None of these overlaps is above half, so pairing IKO with one of them adds some genuinely different holdings.
How is iShares MSCI South Korea ETF managed – active or passive?
iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is passively managed: it follows an index and holds what that index holds, rather than relying on a manager's stock picks.
Among Asia equity funds, active funds charge a median 1.18% a year and index funds 0.60%.
What will I pay in fees for IKO?
IKO charges a management fee of 0.45% a year, about $45 for every $10,000 invested. Only 46% of the 471 ASX ETFs we track charge more, and the median fee is 0.44%. Among Asia equity funds, the median is 0.67%.
Lower-cost funds with a similar focus include iShares Asia 50 ETF (IAA) at 0.29%, Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF (VAE) at 0.40% and Global X Japan Topix 100 ETF (J100) at 0.40%.
If you would rather have a manager choose the investments, active options such as Fidelity Asia Active ETF (FASI) at 1.16% and Fidelity India Active ETF (FIIN) at 1.20% cost more.
The fee is taken from the fund's assets and is already reflected in its returns. You'll also pay brokerage when you buy or sell, and the bid-ask spread, which has averaged 0.20% for IKO.
Does iShares MSCI South Korea ETF follow a theme?
No. iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is a broad equity fund: it aims to cover a wide slice of its market (Asia) rather than one theme or sector.
What is under the hood of IKO?
As at 2 Sept 2026, IKO's ten largest holdings are Sk Hynix (23.8%), Samsung Electronics Ltd (22.4%), Sk Square (2.8%), Samsung Electro Mechanics Ltd (2.7%), Kb Financial Group (2.0%), Shinhan Financial Group (1.7%), Hyundai Motor (1.7%), Hana Financial Group (1.4%), Hanwha Aerospace Ltd (1.3%) and Samsung Sdi Ltd (1.3%). Together they make up 61.0% of the fund.
It follows an index. Most broad share indices weight companies by market size, so the largest companies take the biggest share; the exact rules for IKO's index are in the issuer's PDS. Its top 10 weighting of 61.0% compares with 42.2% for similar funds.
How well has iShares MSCI South Korea ETF performed?
Based on its category, iShares MSCI South Korea ETF aims to grow your capital in line with the index it tracks.
To 23 Oct 2026, with distributions reinvested, it returned 59.5% over 1 year (median −5.7%; ranked 1 of 17), 36.5% a year over 3 years (median 14.8% a year; ranked 1 of 14) and 16.9% a year over 5 years (median 4.8% a year; ranked 2 of 13). The medians and rankings compare it with Asia equity funds. Since listing in 2009 it has returned 7.2% a year.
Tracking difference is the gap between a fund's return and its index's return. We don't hold index returns, so we can't measure it for IKO; the issuer reports it in the monthly fact sheet. As a guide, a well-run index fund trails its index by about its fee, here 0.45% a year, and a much bigger gap is a warning sign.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.