South Korea’s retail investors have bought a combined net 99.2 trillion won ($88 billion) on the domestic stock markets since January 2020, Korea Exchange data showed Sunday, as the bourse faces a market correction on a surge in bond yield. The figure is a combination of individuals’ net buying on the main board Kospi and the development board Kosdaq, both operated by the KRX, from January 2020 until February this year. In the first two months of 2021, individual investors net pu

Market Feb. 28, 2021

국민연금, 석탄관련 회사 투자 세계 11위, 한국서 농협지주 대출 등 금융서비스 규모 가장 높아 전문가들 “화석연료 아직도 수익성 높은 자산, 높은 ESG 관심 속에서도 사업 진행되는 악순환” 국내 기관투자자의 총 석탄 관련 투자 금액이 지난 1월 말 기준 168억600만달러(한화 18조6000억원)에 달하는 것으로 나타났다. 이는 세계에서 아홉번째로 많은 금액이며, 아시아 국가 중에서는 일본, 인도, 중국에 이어 4위에 해당했다. 코리아헤럴드가 독일 환경단체 우르게발트(Urgewald)로부터 25일 단독 입수한 자료에 따르면, 국내 기관투자자 40곳은 석탄발전소를 운영 및 건설하는 회사, 석탄 채취, 운송 및 공정 등 석탄발전 관련 인프라 산업이 매출의 20% 이상을 차지하는 회사 등 국내외 147개 기업에 투자해 왔다. 석탄 관련 회사에 투자한 기관투자자 중에는 국민연금 뿐아니라, 산업은행, 미래에셋금융그룹, 삼성생명 등이 보유 금액 기준

한국어판 Feb. 26, 2021

Forty South Korean investors were found to have invested a total of $16.8 billion in securities issued by thermal coal-related companies worldwide as of January, data exclusively obtained by The Korea Herald showed Thursday. The figure highlights calls for more aggressive climate action on the part of the investors, beyond just declaring an end to additional coal investing, for a nation that pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by cutting emissions to net zero by 2050 for a more sustainable fut

Market Feb. 25, 2021

South Korea’s public pension fund, the National Pension Service, has logged a 9.7 percent return last year to gain 72.1 trillion won ($65 billion) in its preliminary estimate, the government said Wednesday. Health Minister Kwon Deok-chul, who chairs NPS’ Fund Management Committee, added that the world’s third-largest pension fund was managing 833.7 trillion won worth of assets as of end-2020, in a committee meeting held in Seoul. The estimate will be finalized in June, accordi

Market Feb. 24, 2021

South Korea’s financial watchdog on Wednesday ordered two Korean commercial banks -- Woori Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea -- to compensate end-investors for at least half of the damages they incurred in a 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion) misselling scandal involving now-defunct hedge fund Lime Asset Management. The authorities held the banks accountable for “poor efforts in the exercise of their duties to protect investors” when they sold nearly 300 billion won worth of

Market Feb. 24, 2021

A proposed revision of a South Korean law is expected to maintain Korean commercial banks’ solvency and keep its funding cost low, Moody’s Investors Service said Monday. Announced by the Financial Services Commission on Thursday, the revision is designed to introduce measures to improve the recovery and resolution planning of significantly important financial institutions, namely banking groups here. Effective starting July, the new rule is expected to urge banks to specify action

Market Feb. 22, 2021

South Korea‘s public pension fund, the National Pension Service, has boosted its United States stock exposure to $43.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, a US filing showed Monday. The world’s third-largest pension fund, which was managing 807.3 trillion won ($729 billion) of assets as of November, saw its US stock exposure rise by $5.8 billion over the October-December period of 2020, according to its filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing also showe

Market Feb. 22, 2021

US-based international investment manager BlackRock became a blockholder of South Korea’s internet giant Kakao, in an apparent bet on the corporation behind Korea’s most popular messenger app, a filing showed Friday. The US investor’s subsidiary BlackRock Fund Advisors and its 13 affiliates have spent 986.4 billion won ($891.9 million) to obtain 5.18 percent of common shares in Kakao as of Monday, according to the filing. As a result, BlackRock is expected to become the fif

Market Feb. 19, 2021

South Korea’s top financial regulator Eun Sung-soo said Friday that its earlier call on its creditors to extend additional support to financially pinched commercial vehicle maker SsangYong Motor remains “valid.” Eun, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said that he found common ground “in a broader sense” with SsangYong’s main creditor Korea Development Bank, which has refused to extend an additional funding to the lossmaking Korean arm of India-ba

Market Feb. 19, 2021

The National Pension Service said Friday it has committed $150 million to global timberland investment for the first time, in its push for portfolio diversification. The investment by the world’s third-largest pension fund, overseeing 807.3 trillion won ($729 billion) in assets as of November, will go to Stafford International Timberland IX, a ninth flagship timberland fund managed by London-based Stafford Capital Partners. Through the partnership, the NPS will be able to get exposure t

Market Feb. 19, 2021

South Korean investors holding $550.3 million worth of shares in Chinese drone maker EHang Holdings appear to be left in disarray as the Nasdaq-listed firm’s stock price plummeted on a short seller report on Tuesday. EHang Holdings was the ninth-largest stock listed on the United States bourse to be in custody of the Korea Securities Depository until last week, according to the latest data by the KSD. It was also the seventh-most active US-listed stock this year, as Korean individuals a

Market Feb. 17, 2021

South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, managing $183.1 billion in assets, has cut its coal stock exposure in the United States, but its investment in coal-related US listed shares still stands larger compared with other sovereign wealth funds in the world. 　 The findings indicated that Korea Investment Corp. has room for more aggressive action to fight greenhouse gas threats posed by coal, and to perform its fiduciary duty to take environmental risks into account. According to its regulat

Market Feb. 17, 2021

The state-run lender Korea Development Bank said Tuesday it was working with the Ministry of Environment to foster a standardized framework for its green bond issuance in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions.  KDB officials said the move will ensure that issuers, including KDB, will use the green bond proceeds for environmental purposes and prevent issuers from “greenwashing,” in which companies make green gestures without meaningfully improving their environmental impact. KD

Market Feb. 16, 2021

South Korea‘s fund manager KB Asset Management said Monday it has launched an equity fund to target companies at home and abroad dedicated to hydrogen supply chain. The instrument will become the first fund product publicly sold to investors in Korea’s fund management industry to bet on the growth of the global hydrogen mobility ecosystem. The equity fund will invest in companies devoted to production, storage, transportation and distribution of hydrogen, as well as hydrogen-power

Market Feb. 15, 2021

The Military Mutual Aid Association has named Kim You-geun, former deputy director of South Korea‘s National Security Council, as its new chief executive officer of the institutional investor, officials said Monday. Kim, retired Korean Army Lt. Gen., became the 15th president of the institution dedicated to providing financial welfare to the Korean military community. He replaced the predecessor Kim Do-ho after receiving final approval from Defense Minister Suh Wook. Kim called for tra

Market Feb. 15, 2021