Korea Investment Corp., South Korea's sovereign wealth fund, said Friday it posted $4 billion in investment gains last year.

The sovereign fund -- which handles $110.8 billion in assets under management -- reported a return ratio of 4.35 percent from its investments in overseas stocks and bonds for the whole of 2016, the KIC said in a statement. 

The fund's accumulated investment gains reached $15.8 billion last year.

Last year, equities accounted for 41.2 percent of the KIC's overseas investments, which is up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier, with bonds accounting for 33 percent of its investments abroad, a 1.4 percentage point on-year loss, it said. 

The KIC said it expects to report stronger investment gains this year compared to last year helped by favorable investment environments such as a soaring stock market and the won's strength against the US dollar.

South Korea set up the KIC in July 2005 as part of its plans to increase sovereign wealth and help bolster the local financial industry. It manages assets entrusted by the government and the central bank. (Yonhap)