SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors turned net sellers of South Korean stocks in September on concerns over aggressive monetary tightening in major economies, central bank data showed Thursday. Foreigners’ stock investment funds logged a net outflow of US$1.65 billion in September, compared with a $3.02 billion net inflow the previous month, according [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s state pension fund has been found to have invested a large sum of money in the so-called “sin stocks” that include liquor, tobacco and gambling businesses, data showed Tuesday. Rep. Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party referred to an National Pension Service (NPS) report that around 5.29 [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The overseas direct purchase market is cooling down rapidly as the South Korean currency fell sharply. Users point out that the spiking exchange rate is depriving them of the incentive to use direct foreign purchase services. An office worker surnamed Choi recently gave up on purchasing a US$202 bag from the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — KakaoBank Corp., a major South Korean Internet-only bank, will review a set of shareholder return policies, including buybacks, its chief executive said Friday, as its share prices have been on a steep decline. Shares in KakaoBank dropped by 9.38 percent to end at 18,350 won (US$13) Friday, hitting the [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Mirae Asset Venture Investment Co. and Yuanta Investment Co. have been selected as co-managers of a 500 billion-won (US$346 million) state bio fund aimed at supporting domestic pharmaceutical companies’ development of innovative medicine and entrance to the global market, the health ministry said Wednesday. The equity firms have been [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean brokerage firm Korea Investment & Securities Co. has signed a deal to form a joint venture (JV) company with a U.S. financial company within this year, seeking to broaden its inroads into the American financial market, the brokerage’s holding company said Wednesday. Korea Investment & Securities has [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Group’s insurance affiliates said Wednesday they have signed a deal with U.S. asset management behemoth Blackstone Inc. to invest some US$650 million in alternative assets, such as real estate and infrastructure facilities. The two — Samsung Life Insurance Co. and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. — will [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Brokerages in South Korea raked in a combined 23.61 billion won (US$16.5 million) in fees from handling stock short selling in the first half of this year, data showed Tuesday. The amount compared with 29.28 billion won they earned from short selling-related fees throughout last year, according to the [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of offline offices run by financial firms in South Korea declined more than 1,000 over the past year as the use of mobile services spiked amid their fast transition to digitalization, data showed Tuesday. Local financial companies, including banks and insurers, had run a total of 15,924 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major insurance companies are releasing a string of new insurance products associated with health management, based on expectations that their long-term profits will increase if customers are healthier and require less treatment for diseases and other health issues. KB Insurance Co., for example, released a special contract [...]