KSD Reports 21.1773 Trillion KRW in Fund Dividend Income Last Year, Up 16% Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Last year, the profit dividends paid by funds to investors based on operational performance increased compared to 2018. In particular, the scale of profit dividends from private equity funds grew significantly more than that of public funds, resulting in a fivefold difference last year. This is interpreted as a continuation of the dividend growth trend, supported by the growth of special assets and real estate funds.

On the 15th, the Korea Securities Depository announced that the fund profit dividends in 2019 amounted to 21.1773 trillion KRW, a 16.1% increase compared to the previous year.

Profit dividends from public funds were 3.5196 trillion KRW, up 4.51% from the previous year (3.3678 trillion KRW), while profit dividends from private equity funds were 17.6577 trillion KRW, an 18.7% increase from the previous year (14.8794 trillion KRW). Notably, the scale of profit dividends from private equity funds was five times that of public funds, drawing attention.

The amount reinvested from last year's profit dividends was 8.6745 trillion KRW, accounting for 41.0% of the total profit dividends, which is a 0.6% decrease compared to the previous year. The reinvestment rate for public funds was 69.1%, while that for private equity funds was 35.3%.

The Depository interpreted this as "attributable to the characteristic of private equity funds preferring cash payment methods for profit dividends."

Last year, a total of 7,067 funds were liquidated, and the liquidation distribution paid amounted to 59.8117 trillion KRW. The number of funds paying liquidation distributions increased by 14.8% compared to the previous year (6,155 funds), and the distribution amount increased by 13.9% compared to the previous year (52.4906 trillion KRW).

Additionally, the number of newly established funds totaled 10,174, a 1.8% decrease compared to the previous year (10,361), while the amount of new fund establishment increased by 21.4% to 148.3742 trillion KRW from the previous year (122.2078 trillion KRW). By type, the number of private equity funds increased by 5.5% to 7,907 from the previous year (7,498), but the number of public funds decreased by 20.8% to 2,267 from the previous year (2,863). The amount of new private equity fund establishment rose by 23.5% to 128.6838 trillion KRW, whereas the increase in public fund establishment amount was limited to 9.4%.

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