Net assets in South Korea’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surged 42 percent from a year earlier to 35.6 trillion won ($33.3 billion) at the end of last year, according to data released by Korea Exchange on Tuesday.

About 4.3 trillion won worth capital flowed into the local ETF market over the past year, the data showed. Daily transaction averaged at 979.2 billion won, up 24 percent from a year ago. The number of ETF products totaled 325, up 27 percent on year as 74 products, the largest in history, were newly listed in 2017 alone.

ETF is a type of fund that tracks a stock index like Kospi, commodities, bonds or a basket of assets like an index fund. The share of ETFs tracking the nation’s secondary Kosdaq market rose from 5 percent to 13 percent against the Kospi over the cited period, boosted by high returns amid the bullish run of the technology and bio-laden market.

Encouraged by the recent rally, the country’s stock exchange operator plans to introduce liquidity contribution (LC) system along with the existing liquidity provider (LP) system to further promote the ETF market. It also plans to add more products tracking indices of emerging markets to meet the rising demand for overseas investment.

By Jin Young-tae and Choi Mira

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