[Herald Interview] Korea’s Army fund mulls investment in foreign venture capital

Korea’s Military Mutual Aid Association, one of the largest institutional investors in the country with 9.4 trillion won ($8 billion) under management, is reviewing plans to invest in foreign venture capital to secure higher returns, the association’s investment chief said.“We may open opportunities not only to private equities, but to venture capital next year when investing in overseas blind pool funds,” Lee Sang-ho, the chief investment officer of the association, said in an interview with Th

June 21, 2016

Foreign investors keep buying Hana Financial stocks

[THE INVESTOR] Foreign investor are maintaining a strong appetite for Hana Financial Group, a major South Korean banking group, while overseas holders have reduced exposure to other Korean bank stocks as ongoing corporate restructuring weighs on local lenders. Foreign holdings of Hana Financial Group shares rose 0.9 percentage points during the past three months, from 64.8 percent in March to 65.7 percent in June. Foreign investors bought some 3.27 million of Hana stocks since mid-March. In star

June 21, 2016

Korean institutions commit $700m in Brookfield Infrastructure fund

[THE INVESTOR] Major Korean institutional investors have invested some 800 billion won ($ 689 million) in one of the world’s biggest private equity-style infrastructure vehicles.Six large institutions including Teachers’ Pension and Public Officials Benefit Association have committed to the new global infrastructure fund by Brookfield Asset Management, a Toronto-based asset manager. The move comes as investors allocate more to the asset class amid low fixed-income yields. “Institutions that seek

June 21, 2016

Banco Santander to exit Korea

[THE INVESTOR] Spanish lender Banco Santander will shut its Korean operations after seven years, joining foreign banks’ exodus from Korean market in a bid to slash costs through global restructuring, a source said Tuesday.The eurozone’s largest bank by market value will close its office in Seoul before the end of the year and some of its employees will be dispatched to Hong Kong.Launched in 2009, the Seoul office has been serving as a liaison between Korean corporates and official institutions a

June 21, 2016

Investment funds reach record on low interest

Funds deposited in investment accounts reached a record 26.2 trillion won ($22.7 billion) as of last Friday on the back of low interest rates, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association on Tuesday.With the central bank slashing its key base rate to a historic low of 1.25 percent, investors have been either reallocating their money from bank deposits to investment accounts or parking their funds in securities accounts to invest in equities.Previous record deposit holdings in investme

June 21, 2016

Neowiz employee fined for insider trading in Japan

[THE INVESTOR] Japanese financial authorities have uncovered insider trading concerning Korean games maker Neowiz Games’ Japanese subsidiary, local news reported on June 21. According to reports, an employee became aware that the company was planning to buy up shares of its Japanese unit Game On. Having gained the information, the employee then traded Game On shares after the plans were made public in 2011.At the time, Neowiz Games acquired Game On shares worth 2 billion yen (US$19 million) to r

June 21, 2016

Korean dealers kick off direct sale of KOSPI 200 futures to US investors

[THE INVESTOR] Korean securities firms started to trade Korea Exchange’s flagship KOSPI 200 futures directly with US customers, KRX said on June 21.KRX, the country’s bourse operator, said it has cleared hurdles that had undermined the sales of Korean derivative products in the US by receiving approvals from two US financial regulators. “The sales activity related to derivative products is expected to gain momentum in the US,” said Yoo Hee-wook, director of Derivative Product Marketing division.

June 21, 2016

Police Mutual seeks asset managers to run blind fund

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s Police Mutual Aid Association, the country’s state pension with total assets under management of approximately 2 trillion won (US$1.64 billion), will create a blind fund of 100 billion won, sources said on June 21. The PMAA will announce the launch of the private equity fund this week to pick six asset managers -- two of each PEF, venture capital firm and private debt fund. (Korea`s Police Mutual Aid Association)The selected PEFs and PDFs will manage 20 billion won each an

June 21, 2016

BOK campaign ends with over 260 mln dormant coins

The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that its campaign to put dormant coins back to use has successfully put more than 260 million coins back into circulation.In just one month of the recollection campaign in May, people brought out some 267 million coins, worth 36.7 billion won ($31.64 million) in value, to have them changed into banknotes, according to the central bank. The result marks a 1.9-percent increase in the number of reclaimed coins from last year's campaign, and a 1.4-percent rise in their

June 21, 2016

Samsung SDS rules out steps to boost share price

Samsung SDS Co., a key IT unit of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, said Tuesday it has decided not to take measures to boost its share price as it mulls spinning off the logistic business.The decision came a week after a group of small investors demanded Samsung SDS buy back shares or pay interim dividends to bolster its share price."Samsung SDS has decided not to consider a share buyback or an interim dividend as a spinoff is under consideration," the company said in a regulatory f

June 21, 2016

Foreign banks' Korean exodus: Banco Santander to exit from Korea

[THE INVESTOR] Spanish lender Banco Santander will shut its Korean operations after seven years, joining foreign banks’ exodus from Korean market in a bid to slash costs through global restructuring, a source said on June 21.The eurozone’s largest bank by market value will close its office in Seoul before the end of the year and some of its employees will be dispatched to Hong Kong.Launched in 2009, the Seoul office has been serving as a liaison between Korean corporates and official institution

June 21, 2016

Foreign investors keep buying Hana Financial stocks

[THE INVESTOR] Foreign investor are maintaining a strong appetite for Hana Financial Group, a major South Korean banking group, while overseas holders have reduced exposure to other Korean bank stocks as ongoing corporate restructuring weighs on local lenders. Foreign holdings of Hana Financial Group shares rose 0.9 percentage points during the past three months, from 64.8 percent in March to 65.7 percent in June. Foreigners bought some 3.27 million of Hana stocks since mid-March. In stark to co

June 21, 2016

Customer deposits at brokerages soar amid low rates

Customer deposits at South Korean securities companies have hit a new high, data showed Tuesday, as investors search for high-yielding vehicles amid record-low interest rates.In a blitzkrieg move, the Bank of Korea slashed its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 percent on June 9 in an apparent bid to cushion any fallout from the ongoing corporate restructuring drive and bolster the sputtering economy.It was the first rate cut in 12 months.According to the data by the Korea E

June 21, 2016

Major banks reduce loans to large firms

Apparently spooked by problems facing the country's top-ranked companies in the shipping and shipbuilding industries, major commercial banks here are beginning to reduce the amount of their loans to large firms, market data showed Tuesday.According to the data from the country's five commercial banks, their outstanding loans to large firms came to some 89.59 trillion won ($77.21 billion) as of end-May, down 1.83 trillion won from 91.42 trillion won at the end of 2015.The five banks are KEB Hana

June 21, 2016

Loss of Hanjin, Hyundai shipping firms will cause US$19 billion damages

[THE INVESTOR] Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine disappearing from the market will result in loss of 5,400 jobs and damages of US$19.13 billion on the Korean economy, the Korea Shipowners’ Association projected on June 20. According to the association’s calculations, the two shipping firms being pushed out of the market will also prompt major global shipping companies to take their operations out of Korea’s Busan Port. Busan is currently ranked the world’s fifth largest port in terms o

June 20, 2016

Samsung SDS small shareholders demand action

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDS’ small shareholders are demanding Samsung Group to take measures to boost the company’s stock prices. On June 20, an online association of Samsung SDS shareholders posted a letter addressed to Samsung Future Strategy Office chief and Samsung Electronics vice chairman Choi Ji-sung.In the letter, the shareholders criticized the company’s plans to separate its logistics business, and called on him to show the company’s plans for buoying stock prices. Samsung SDS closed at

June 20, 2016

[ANALYST REPORT] Hanmi Pharm: Beijing Hanmi’s R&D potential

Chinese government regulation to impact Chinese pharma market Over Jun 16~17, Hanmi Pharm’s Chinese subsidiary—Beijing Hanmi—invited analysts to a site visit for the first time in seven years. According to IMS data, the Chinese pharma market was worth RMB1.1tn in 2015 (grew at a 2011~2015 CAGR of 16.0%), and the market (according to IMS estimates) will grow at a 2016~2020 CAGR of 6.9%. Growth factors for the Chinese pharma market: expanding health insurance coverage; growing private healthcare e

June 20, 2016

Rothwell International IPO oversubscribed

[THE INVESTOR] Chinese auto parts manufacturer Rothwell International, which took orders from retail investors for its initial public offering on Korea’s tech-heavy KOSDAQ next week, was 328 times oversubscribed with deposits totaling 3.15 trillion won (US$2.71 billion won), the company said on June 20. “As a listed Chinese firm, we will take the lead in resolving China discount and creating premium,” said Zhou Xiangdong, the company’s chief executive. Rothwell International started taking subsc

June 20, 2016

[ANALYST REPORT] Hana Financial Group: Foreigners are buying for good reasons

BUY and 6M TP of W33,000 maintained- The target price is derived by applying the target P/B of 0.4x to the 2016E BPS of W77,857.- Over the last three months, Hana Financial Group’s foreign ownership gained nearly 0.9%p. This compares with most of its peer banks (other than Woori Bank), which saw their foreign ownership decline considerably.-There are two reasons why foreign investors are buying Hana Financial Group. First, its exposure to large company loans is forecast to decrease a whopping 7.

June 20, 2016

SK Innovation to beef up ceramic coated LiBS

[THE INVESTOR] SK Innovation, the energy solution arm of SK Group, has decided to increase facility investments for the production of lithium-ion battery separator or LiBS, a key part of electric vehicles. The company said on June 20 it will set up two assembly lines at its production plant in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, with aims to complete the facilities by the first half of next year. A company official holds LiBS produced at SK Innovation’s Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Provin

June 20, 2016