The amount of foreign securities held by major South Korean institutions rose 41.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to an increase in South Korean investment in foreign bonds and stocks, central bank data showed Wednesday.

As of the end of June, the value of foreign securities held by South Korea's institutional investors came to $210.1 billion, compared with $148.52 billion from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea.

Quarter-on-quarter, the value of foreign securities held by South Korea's institutional investors rose 8.9 percent, it said.
 

The amount of foreign bonds and stocks held by South Korean institutions came to $109.38 billion and $58.12 billion, respectively, in the second quarter, up from $98.48 billion and $52.51 billion from a quarter earlier, respectively.

Foreign securities include overseas stocks and bonds as well as Korean papers and foreign currency-denominated securities issued by the local government, banks and companies in overseas markets.

Investment in Korean papers by local institutions gained $630 million to $42.57 billion over the cited period.

By investor, foreign securities held by local asset management firms came to $102.97 billion in the second quarter, up $11.62 billion from the previous quarter, with those held by local securities companies declining $70 million to $12.87 billion.

Foreign securities held by local insurance firms grew by $3.76 billion to $73.08 billion. (Yonhap)