South Korean financial institutions' investment into foreign securities rose 27.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 due to insurers' demand for foreign bonds, central bank data showed Thursday.
The 2015 increase was up from a 23.5 billion-dollar growth a year earlier, posting the fastest yearly expansion in eight years and maintaining the rising trend for four straight years, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Outstanding purchase by domestic institutional investors of foreign stocks and bonds stood at 125.3 billion dollars as of the end of 2015. The fast increase in 2015 was mainly attributable to strong demand from local insurers for foreign bonds and stocks, which surged 16.1 billion dollars last year. Investment by asset managers, foreign exchange banks and securities firms grew by 5 billion dollars, 3.3 billion dollars and 3 billion dollars respectively in 2015.
Demand for foreign bonds, including the Korean Paper, was strong due to the global trend of low interest rates. The purchase of foreign bonds increased 17.4 billion dollars, with the Korean Paper purchase rising 5.5 billion dollars. The Korean Paper refers to foreign currency-denominated securities sold overseas by South Korean players like the government, financial institutions and companies.
Foreign stocks purchase climbed 4.4 billion dollars in 2015 due to global stock market falls at large. U.S. stocks fell 2.2 percent in 2015, with Hong Kong and Brazilian stocks declining 7.2 percent and 13.3 percent each.
Latest comments