This Year, Fund Market Increased by 100 Trillion Won... Bond Funds Attract 'Lump Sum Money'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] The fund market size has expanded following the stock market boom. It increased by 100 trillion won in five months, growing to a total scale of 1,300 trillion won. Attention is focused on whether this trend will continue depending on the direction of the stock market in the second half of this year.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on the 13th, 341 domestic asset management companies are managing a total of 1,301 trillion won in assets under management (AUM). At the end of last year, it was about 1,200 trillion won. However, it increased by about 101 trillion won (8.4%) in just over five months. During the past year, it grew by 61 trillion won, so this increase is even greater. The total net assets including valuation also rose to 1,448 trillion won, up 118 trillion won (8.9%) from 1,330 trillion won at the end of last year.

This increase in managed assets aligns with the stock market boom. The largest portion of the AUM increase was in bond-type funds (529 trillion won), which rose by 34 trillion won compared to the end of last year. This appears to be a result of institutional investors adjusting their asset allocation to reduce stock holdings amid the stock market rise, as well as seeking safe assets for risk diversification.

With the stock market thriving, initial public offerings (IPOs) also increased significantly, leading to substantial growth in short-term financial products. Money Market Funds (MMFs) grew from 125 trillion won to 177 trillion won, an increase of 52 trillion won. In the first half of this year, major IPOs such as SK Bioscience (63.6 trillion won), SK IE Technology (80.9 trillion won) appeared on the stock market. In the second half, IPOs from Kakao Pay, One Store, Kakao Bank, and Krafton are scheduled.

Additionally, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) increased by 8.8 trillion won from 52.0845 trillion won at the end of last year to 60.8105 trillion won. On the other hand, equity funds decreased by 5 billion won from 172.3 trillion won to 171.8 trillion won.

An industry insider stated, "In the case of ETFs, the base is expanding because they can be traded on the market like stocks while allowing diversified investment targeting indices like funds."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.