Global Funds That Missed Japan's Stock Market Surge... This Time They Absolutely Won't Miss Korea: "Why Wall Street Is Betting on the Korean Stock Market" | Yoon Je-sung, Former CIO of New York Life Asset Management

일본 증시 폭등 때 놓친 글로벌 자금… 이번 한국은 절대 안 놓친다 "월가가 한국 증시에 베팅하는 이유" | 뉴욕라이프자산운용 윤제성 전 CIO
Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 01, 2026 at 07:00  |  23:06  |  815 Money Talk (815머니톡)
Speakers
Yoon Jae-sung — Research Fellow

Summary

Yoon Je-sung, former CIO of New York Life Asset Management, discusses the Fed's likely rate path, Trump-related political and tariff risks, and a volatile 2025 market outlook. He favors beaten-down healthcare and biotech, sees regional banks as benefiting from deregulation, and is positive on Korean equities, especially KOSDAQ and memory-chip makers. He also highlights Boeing's backlog-based valuation and warns that the S&P 500 may see only limited, choppy upside.

  • Fed is expected to hold rates until at least June unless the economy deteriorates sharply.
  • 2025 is framed as a year of volatility, with the S&P 500 potentially ending only about 5% higher.
  • Healthcare and biotech are favored after long declines, deregulation, and faster FDA approvals.
  • Regional banks are seen as finally okay due to deregulation, while large financials were exited.
  • Korea is favored because US investors missed Japan and do not want to miss Korean equities.
  • KOSDAQ is viewed as a high-beta beneficiary of small money inflows, though US-listed KOSDAQ ETF options are lacking.
  • Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are supported by memory orders booked for the next 2-3 years.
  • Boeing is called cheap when its 3-4 year backlog is properly accounted for.
Ideas
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 7:29
Exited US financials after strong run.
Large US banks and securities firms such as JPMorgan and Citi have already performed very well, so he removed financials from his portfolio late last year because valuations are no longer attractive.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 7:42
Regional banks benefit from deregulation.
Regional banks, the segment where SVB failed, should finally be okay because they benefit from financial deregulation; valuations are not cheap but not expensive, making them a reasonable area without the prior bond-loss crisis risk.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 14:47
S&P 500 faces volatile muted upside.
He expects 2025 to be a year of volatility driven by valuation, geopolitical, Trump policy, and potential shutdown risks. A hedge-fund survey he cites sees the S&P 500 ending the year only about 5% higher, meaning gains may not come smoothly, so the index is a watch item for muted, choppy upside rather than a clean bull or bear trade.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 15:44
Healthcare cheap after long decline.
Healthcare stocks were beaten down for about 2-2.5 years by drug-price pressure, bottomed after Warren Buffett bought, and are now benefiting from deregulation. They are less extended than Big Tech and should hold up relatively well in a volatile market, with another 1-2 good years expected.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 16:16
Faster FDA approvals lift biotech.
Biotech is benefiting from a faster FDA approval process under Trump-era deregulation. He bought several biotech stocks, some are up 10-50%, and he expects the group to remain attractive for another 1-2 years.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 17:22
Foreigners buy Korea after missing Japan.
KOSPI was long known as cheap but lacked foreign trust; now foreign investors trust Korea because it has key AI/data-center, semiconductor, battery, and nuclear value chains, benefits from US-China decoupling, and the government is pushing better corporate governance. US investors missed Japan and do not want to miss Korea, so they are starting to allocate to Korean equities.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 18:20
KOSDAQ can move on small inflows.
KOSDAQ is a more interesting story than KOSPI because it contains many small companies whose valuations are not well measured; if even a small amount of money rotates from the larger KOSPI into the much smaller KOSDAQ, prices can move sharply. He would rather buy the KOSDAQ index/ETF than pick individual small caps, though he notes there is no easy US-listed KOSDAQ ETF.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 21:04
Memory orders locked for three years.
Memory chip orders/bookings are already filled for the next 2-3 years, so Samsung Electronics and SK hynix should keep selling what they produce. The market's prior concern about memory is easing, and the large earnings visibility reduces risk.
Yoon Jae-sung Research Fellow 22:31
Boeing cheap on backlog basis.
Boeing looks expensive on current earnings because it cannot deliver enough planes, but it has a 3-4 year backlog; once the backlog is properly accounted for, the stock is cheap, so weak reported earnings are masking strong long-term demand.
Up Next

This 815 Money Talk (815머니톡) video, published February 01, 2026, features Yoon Jae-sung discussing XLF, KRE, SPY, XLV, US biotech, EWY, KOSDAQ, 005930.KS, 000660.KS, BA. 9 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Yoon Jae-sung  · Tickers: XLF, KRE, SPY, XLV, US biotech, EWY, KOSDAQ, 005930.KS, 000660.KS, BA