The Korea Herald is publishing a series of special reports on the glass ceiling in the financial industry, focusing on South Korea’s market compared to other major economies. Funded by The Korea Press Foundation, the series will evaluate where Asia’s fourth-largest economy stands in terms of gender equality, reflect on changes being made, and explore ways to boost inclusion in the sector. -- Ed. The COVID-19 pandemic has been both an opportunity and a crisis for the world of financ

NH-Amundi Asset Management said Monday that its equity fund dedicated to environmental, social and governance factors in investment decisions has surpassed 100 billion won ($91.7 million) by the size of assets it was managing, indicating South Korean retail investors’ appetite for the green theme. The product, dubbed NH-Amundi Century Enterprise Green Korea Equity Fund, was launched on Sept. 3. It has attracted 60 billion won worth of retail investment, while 40 billion won stemmed from

South Korea is expected to witness a decentralization of the office market in its capital city Seoul over the next few years as major tenants are planning to relocate and new submarkets emerge, a report showed Monday. Chaebol tenants such as Samsung, Doosan, Hyundai Heavy, LG are planning relocations within the Greater Seoul area, while banking group Hana Financial Group and public institutions are considering moving out of Seoul, leading to a “great reshuffling” of the Seoul offic

Mirae Asset Global Investments said Friday its five exchange-traded funds investing in stocks dedicated to batteries, biotechnology, internet and gaming sectors have topped 700 billion won ($642 million) in their combined net asset value as of Thursday, two months after their listing. The ETFs are its signature Tiger suite of products -- Tiger KRX BBIG K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Bio K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Secondary Battery K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Internet K-New Deal ETF and Tiger KRX Game

US-based investor Fidelity Management & Research has offloaded common shares of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance worth 111.6 billion won ($102.2 million) on the local stock exchange since October, filings showed Friday. Before the transactions, Fidelity was the third-largest shareholder of Hyundai Marine & Fire, listed on South Korea‘s main stock bourse Kospi, holding 11 percent of its voting rights. That followed Chairman Chung Mong-yoon’s 24.65 percent and the National

The Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday it plans to commit 16 billion won ($14.7 million) to Seoul-based venture capital house K & Investment Partners as part of the government-led initiative to foster the domestic digital media ecosystem. The commitment from its fund-of-funds, managed by Korea Venture Investment Corp., will be used to create a 26 billion-won fund by March next year. K & has been selected as the ICT Ministry’s only external partner to manage the fund out of 1

South Korea‘s central government procurement agency has been putting efforts into bridging innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises and aspiring buyers of their prototypes and goods, its chief said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. As the state-run Public Procurement Service is looking to strengthen a separate web-based procurement platform created in February, in addition to its flagship Korea Online E-Procurement System, the agency will stay committed to the ro

Stock analysts are setting bullish targets on South Korea‘s main stock market index Kospi, as optimism for strong earnings growth next year abound, while investors backed by ample market liquidity are zeroing in on equities as their choices are increasingly limited. The views came as the Kospi on Wednesday resumed its record run by closing at 2,755.47. The index rebounded 2 percent from a day prior when Kospi retreated from the five-trading-day rally since the start of December. Kospi, w

South Korea’s brokerage house KB Securities said Tuesday it has teamed up with New York-based multinational investment bank Jefferies Group to establish a co-brand alliance for equity research, sales and trading. Under the term, Jefferies will distribute equity research on listed companies in Korea produced by KB Securities on a co-branded basis to Jefferies’ global institutional client base. KB Securities will also offer Korean equity brokerage services to Jefferies and its interna

The Public Officials Benefit Association said Monday it plans to commit $100 million indirectly to foreign real estate investment trusts listed on stock markets of developed countries. The South Korean institutional investor, overseeing 15.2 trillion won ($14 billion) worth of assets, added that it would select a new external partner based outside of Korea by January 2021. POBA‘s open-ended investment will be made in a separately managed account established by the partnering fund manag

Companies going public this year in South Korea have fetched more than a combined 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) in proceeds from their initial public offerings on the local stock market, filings showed Monday, as they took advantage of windfalls from stock rallies throughout this year on high market liquidity. The combined IPO proceeds of 66 companies listed this year as of Monday came to 5.17 trillion won, excluding the special purpose acquisition companies, respective prospectuses showed. The

South Korea‘s first mobile-only lender K bank has secured some 650,000 new users over the past five months as it showed signs of business normalization after it resumed its lending business in July, the company said Thursday. The news brought K bank’s accumulated number of bank accounts to over 2 million as of Wednesday, according to the company, which was founded in 2017. From July to November, K bank is estimated to have attracted an average of 130,000 new users each month,

The transfer of assets associated with scandal-ridden Seoul-based hedge fund manager Lime Asset Management began Thursday as South Korea’s financial regulator scrapped its license to operate in Korea the day before. In a long-awaited move, the bridge institution WellBridge Asset Management is expected to take over all 215 Lime funds to speed up the process of minimizing losses of the assets – most of which are believed to be nearly insolvent -- a key move to mitigate the financial d

Korea Investment & Securities board agreed to pay 142 billion won ($128.9 million) to its wholly owned subsidiary Korea Investment Value Asset Management, as Kakao Bank moves on to raise nearly a combined 1 trillion won by year-end before an initial public offering poised to take place next year, filings showed Wednesday. KIVAM is currently the second-largest shareholder of Kakao Bank after internet giant Kakao. KIVAM‘s proceeds will be used to buy 6 million newly issued common shar

Korean Air Lines is inching closer to selling its yacht marina operation in Incheon to a new Korean buyer for roughly 130 billion won ($117 million). The investor group of Consus Asset Management and Mirae Asset Daewoo said Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding as a preferred bidder to buy 100 percent stake in Wangsan Leisure Development, operator of Wangsan Marina, which is wholly controlled by the nation’s No. 1 flag carrier.　 Wangsan Marina was built in 2016. Part of the

South Korean securities brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo is expanding its global footprint as it revs up localization efforts, while its overseas business operations are setting new highs in terms of net income despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Mirae Asset Daewoo operates 11 foreign corporations and three offices, according to its latest financial statement. In the first three quarters of 2020, Mirae Asset Daewoo logged a combined 174.1 billion won ($157.4 million) net profit before taxes, top

The recent spate of records in South Korea’s stock market on hopes of a global coronavirus containment has brought the market capitalization of the 10 largest business groups’ listed affiliates to fresh highs, data showed Wednesday. As of Monday, the market cap of all 102 listed affiliates of the 10 largest business groups came to 1,069 trillion won ($964.3 billion), topping 1,000 trillion won for the first time in history, according to data from financial market tracker FnGuide.

South Korea’s real estate investment trust, indirectly controlled by Hong Kong-listed real estate platform ESR, said Monday that it is gearing up for an initial public offering that will raise 357.3 billion won ($321.3 million) before a listing on the main stock bourse, Kospi, to attract retail investors to its industrial portfolio. The new REIT, dubbed ESR Kendall Square REIT, will become the first listed REIT dedicated to logistics properties in Korea if the IPO goes ahead as planned l

Controversy escalated Sunday over the proposed business integration plan of South Korea’s two flag carriers -- Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines -- as to whether the fundraising plan of Korean Air’s parent company Hanjin KAL to achieve the tie-up is legally viable. State-run lender and creditor Korea Development Bank has addressed concerns over the possibility of an injunction court order that might kill its plan of providing 800 billion won ($716 million) to Hanjin KAL in retur

Top officials of the state-run lender Korea Development Bank said Thursday that the proposed merger of South Korea’s two flag carriers, Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines -- largely orchestrated by the creditor of the two -- may be scrapped if the court grants an injunction grinding the blockbuster deal to a halt. If the injunction is granted, the state lender has no choice but to go back to square one and pursue a plan that could cost it 5.4 trillion won ($4.8 billion) by 2027 to keep