DRAM's 49 Percent Korea Weighting Means Half the Fund Trades While New York Is Closed

DRAM provides exposure to major memory manufacturers used in AI, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, along with Micron and other regional holdings. The fund holds a large portion of South Korean equities, so about half of its underlying assets stop trading at 3 p.m. Seoul time and resume while U.S. investors are asleep. The ETF’s net asset value is calculated using holdings priced at their close, which can create stale pricing for U.S. market hours. Market makers then quote the ETF based on expected next opens in Korea, turning the premium or discount to NAV into a volatility-sensitive spread. This can cause large gaps when material news hits in Korea while U.S. markets are closed.

"Korea has two large memory companies: Samsung and SK Hynix. Meanwhile, the Roundhill Memory ETF ( BATS:DRAM) has done what hot launches do: rip. The fund is up 90% since its April 2, 2026 inception, and it has $10.38 billion in fund assets under management, and added more than $1 billion in a single day on May 8."

"The catch is structural. DRAM is a U.S. listed ETF whose underlying portfolio is 49% South Korean equities, meaning roughly half of what you own stops trading at 3 p.m. Seoul time and does not start again until you are asleep. What you are actually buying Memory is the picks and shovels of AI. The three companies that matter control roughly 95% of the market, and DRAM gives you all of them in one ticker."

"An ETF's net asset value is just the holdings priced at the close, stacked up. When half the holdings closed in Seoul 14 hours before the New York bell, the published NAV uses stale prices that nobody can actually trade against. Market makers quote DRAM at where they think Samsung and SK hynix will open in Korea tonight, which is a guess dressed up as a spread. During calm tape, the premium or discount to NAV stays tight. During volatility it widens, sometimes a lot."

"Picture a retail investor who bought DRAM near the recent peak. Samsung reports a material HBM miss after Seoul opens. Seoul sells the news while U.S. markets are closed. DRAM's NAV cannot reprice until the next U.S. session, so the first hour of New York trading absorbs eight hours of price discovery in a single gap. Institutional desks"

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