The top five business groups in South Korea increased their total cash dividend by more than 4.7 trillion won last year by enhancing their shareholder return after stewardship code introduction by institutional investors such as the National Pension Service. An increase in dividend payouts is likely
U.S.-based BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager, has secured more than a 5 percent stake in Samsung Electronics Co. This is the first time that the American global investment management firm owns over 5 percent of Samsung Electronics.BlackRock officially announced on Feb. 7 that it
The Korean business community is taking a sigh of relief as the state-run National Pension Service (NPS) has decided to adopt a stewardship code that allows it to participate in management of companies only restrictively. However, there are still concerns that the NPS could override management decis
The National Pension Service has disclosed a plan to introduce a stewardship code, a guideline on how to exercise its voting rights on companies where it has invested.According to the plan, the NPS will not exercise its shareholder rights on issues such as that can be categorized as management inter
The National Pension Service (NPS) has decided to introduce a stewardship code and start exercising its shareholder rights against companies that undermine the interests of minority shareholders by funneling corporate funds to their owner families.The NPS will start implementing a stewardship code i
Concerns are growing over the planned adoption of a stewardship code by the National Pension Service (NPS). In particular, critics say that the government is rushing to introduce the stewardship code, though the current laws have ambiguities regarding what kind of shareholder activities constitute i
The National Pension Service (NPS) has been operating without the chief officer of national pension fund management for a year.Temasek Holdings Private Ltd., a state-owned holding company that can be characterized as a national wealth fund owned by the Government of Singapore, sold part of its stake
The members of the voting rights decision committee, an outside advisory body of the National Pension Service (NPS), have expressed concerns over the Stewardship Code to be introduced next month.Most of the committee members said they shared the purpose of the new code: to encourage institutional in
The National Pension Service (NPS) has decided to invest more in foreign stocks than in domestic stocks starting from next year.As of the end of 2017, domestic stocks accounted for 21.1 percent of the NPS shareholdings. The organization is going to lower the ratio to 18% until the end of 2019, while
The aggregate market value of Samsung Group shares held by the National Pension Service (NPS) exceeded 40 trillion won (US$36.97 billion) as of the end of last year, according to data from securities companies.The NPS was found to have earned over 8 trillion won (US$7.39 billion) in appraisal profit
Korea Investment Corp (KIC)., South Korea's sovereign wealth fund, will consider canceling an investment contract with US activist hedge fund Elliott Management, its head said on May 17.Choi Hee-nam, chief executive of the $134.1 billion fund, told reporters that KIC is closely monitoring a lega
Glass Lewis, one of the world’s two largest proxy advisory firms, has advised shareholders to vote against the restructuring plan of Hyundai Mobis. Glass Lewis is the first major proxy advisory firm to express its opposition to Hyundai Motor Group’s governance reform plan. The plan proposes that Hyu
With US hedge fund Elliott Management officially announcing that it would vote against Hyundai Motor Group's governance reform plan, proxy advisory firms at home and abroad, including Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), the world’s leading provider of corporate governance and responsi
Some insiders of the National Pension Service (NPS) point out that the company should exercise its voting rights differently from activist hedge funds, including Elliott Management, even if it adopts the so-called stewardship code, a guideline that encourages institutional investors to exercise thei
It has been found that Elliott Management Corporation is pushing for an investor-state dispute (ISD) against the South Korean government for its claimed losses during the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. A South Korean corporate governance expert said that the move is actually aimed