AUM Tops US$200 Billion
Korea Investment Corp. (KIC) increased its U.S. stock investment from US$46.7 billion to US$52.5 billion for the first eight months of this year, People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sung-kull said on Oct. 15.
“KIC’s stock assets totaled US$84.9 billion at the end of August this year and the ratio of its U.S. stocks to the total rose from 59.7 percent to 61.8 percent for the eight months, when the sovereign wealth fund’s stock investment increased from US$1.6 billion to US$2.6 billion in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore and increased from US$12 billion to US$12.7 billion in non-U.K. European countries,” the lawmaker said, adding, “On the other hand, the fund’s stock investment decreased from US$6.5 billion to US$6.1 billion in the emerging Asia-Pacific economies including China, the ratio of the investment to the total fell from 8.3 percent to 7.2 percent, and the sovereign wealth fund’s investment in the Japanese stock market decreased from US$5.1 billion to US$4.7 billion.”
For the eight months, KIC increased its U.S. bond investment by US$3.6 billion to US$28.4 billion. Its total bond investment was US$69.5 billion at the end of August and the ratio of its U.S. bond investment to its total bond investment rose 2.4 percentage points to 40.8 percent.
Its U.K. bond investment increased from US$5.2 billion to US$5.8 billion whereas its Japanese bond investment decreased from US$8.3 billion to US$7.7 billion. The ratio did not change from 5.1 percent in the bond markets of the emerging Asia-Pacific economies including China. KIC’s total bond assets increased approximately US$5 billion for the eight months.
At the end of August, KIC’s AUM topped US$200 billion for the first time in history. The fund’s return on investment was US$14.9 billion for the eight months. The sovereign wealth fund celebrated its 16th anniversary in July this year and its cumulative return is US$85.9 billion. Its assets include US$85.1 billion and US$30 billion entrusted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea, respectively.