KB Asset Management's 'KB Shareholder Value Focus Fund' Surpasses 100 Billion KRW in Net Assets

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] KB Asset Management announced on the 1st that the ‘KB Shareholder Value Focus’ fund has surpassed 100 billion KRW in net assets. While the domestic active fund market continued to shrink due to the ongoing contraction of the public offering fund market, the ‘KB Shareholder Value Focus’ fund grew by more than 80 billion KRW this year.

The ‘KB Shareholder Value Focus Fund’ actively incorporates Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors, which have recently emerged as key indicators for assessing the sustainability of corporate growth, into its investment strategy. It reflects governance (G) elements that directly contribute to shareholder returns such as share buybacks, along with environmental (E) and social (S) factors that promote shareholder value expansion through capital gains. Domestic and foreign pension funds also consider ESG an important factor in evaluating corporate value from a long-term investment perspective.

Looking at the recent portfolio, it includes Golfzon 7.67%, Naver 5.16%, Hyundai Motor 4.34%, Unid 3.75%, Samsung C&T 3.71%, with the industry breakdown led by electric and electronics at 12.71%, followed by finance at 9.31%. Since its inception in March 2018, the fund has posted a return of 61.57%, more than double the KOSPI’s 24.7% increase over the same period.

Jung Yonghyun, Head of Value Investment at KB Asset Management, said, “Interest in value stock funds has increased recently as the stock market has shown signs of correction. We are focusing not only on intrinsic corporate value analysis but also on companies that can maximize shareholder value.”

Meanwhile, KB Asset Management strengthened its expertise by separating the Value Investment Office under the Equity Investment Headquarters after transitioning to a sole CEO system led by Hyunseung Lee earlier this year.

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