Net fund assets operated by South Korean asset management companies have recently exceeded 450 trillion won ($385 billion) as investors opt for higher-yielding products away from low-rate bank products, an asset investment association said Friday.

The total net asset size of publicly and privately placed funds under the management of local asset managers reached 450.67 trillion won as of May 11, jumping from 401.9 trillion won on March 13 last year, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. 

Publicly and privately placed funds are available at banks and brokerages. If a fund product invites fewer than 50 investors, the fund is categorized as a private fund. If a fund draws more than 50, it is called a public fund, a KOFIA official said.

"As interest rates decline and banks offer fewer high-yielding products, investors increasingly prefer bond-linked and other investment products that promise stable returns to volatile equity-type ones," the official said.

From March 13 last year to May 11, private funds' net assets jumped to 219.5 trillion won from 179.2 trillion won. Public funds' net assets climbed to 231.17 trillion won from 222.67 trillion won, the data showed. (Yonhap)