Dividend Payouts by Funds in First Half Fall 24.9% from Year Earlier

The Korea Securities Depository (KSD) announced on July 19 that dividend payouts by funds came to 8.32 trillion won (US$7.08 billion) in the first half of this year, down 24.9 percent from 11.10 trillion won (US$9.44 billion) a year ago.

Dividend payouts by public offering funds decreased 14.1 percent to 1.88 trillion won (US$1.60 billion) over the same period, while those by private equity funds fell 27.6 percent to 6.45 trillion won (US$5.48 billion).

By type, bond-type funds and alternative investment-type funds fared well, while equity funds posted a poor performance.

Dividend payouts by bond-type funds grew 49.5 percent to 1.53 trillion won (US$1.30 billion), and those by alternative investment-type funds, such as real estate and special asset funds, increased 33.2 percent to 4.07 trillion won (US$3.47 billion). On the other hand, dividends by money market funds (MMF) and equity funds dropped 29.3 percent and 78.9 percent to 913.90 billion won (US$777.46 million) and 424.70 billion won (US$361.29 million), respectively.

The amount of reinvestments totaled 2.89 trillion won (US$2.46 billion) in the first half, accounting for 34.7 percent of the total dividend payouts.

The reinvestment rate of public offering funds and private equity funds stood at 67.9 percent, or 1.27 trillion won (US$1.08 billion), and 25 percent, or 1.61 trillion won (US$1.37 billion), respectively.