Amplify's new chip fund leads with a Taiwanese board maker

Amplify listed a semiconductor fund on NYSE Arca on Wednesday, October 7, and the largest holding it published that day was a Taiwanese circuit-board maker. Nvidia, AMD and TSMC were not in it.

The Amplify Top 10 Semiconductors ETF —CPU is an actively managed fund focused on about 10 semiconductor-related companies. It charges 0.49%, and it does not track an index. Amplify names the Bloomberg Top 10 Momentum Semiconductors Index as a reference.

Unimicron Technology was the largest position, at 16.5%. The company, based in Taiwan, makes printed circuit boards and substrates for chips. Its shares trade in Taipei.

Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board, Marvell and Micron followed. Nan Ya is a printed-circuit-board maker based in Taipei, and its shares trade in Taiwan too. Together the four names were 52% of the weighting Amplify published.

Amplify builds that weighting from two things: shares the fund owns, and swaps that pay a stock's gain or loss without the fund owning the shares. Amplify's prospectus, dated October 2, says a swap can lose money if the counterparty does not pay. As of Friday, October 9, the Unimicron position was shares.

Christian Magoon, chief executive of Amplify ETFs, said the fund is "designed to concentrate on the companies demonstrating leadership and momentum."

The largest weight Amplify published that day was a circuit-board maker.

What a buyer can already own

VanEck Semiconductor ETF ASMH holds the largest semiconductor companies with US listings, including Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor and AMD. Nvidia was its largest holding, at 19.6%, as of Thursday, October 8.

It charges 0.35%, a rate VanEck has capped through February 1, 2027. The fund held $73.9 billion as of that day.

iShares Semiconductor ETF ASOXX holds the 30 largest semiconductor companies with US listings, including Nvidia. It charges 0.33%, the fee in its current prospectus.

REX AI Chipmaking ETF —CHIP, a fund that holds companies supplying chipmaking equipment, packaging and measurement tools, listed on Wednesday, September 23. That is a different bet from the board makers at the top of —CPU. It charges 0.65% and held $806,000 as of Friday, October 9.

—CPU listed with net assets of $498,000.

A buyer who wants Nvidia can already hold it in ASMH or ASOXX. Someone who buys —CPU is choosing a short list that, on listing day, started with Taiwanese circuit-board makers.