By Kim Jae-won
Local institutional investors beat their foreign counterparts in stock management this year thanks to their more diverse portfolios, data from a financial information provider showed Thursday.
WISEfn said shares of 11 stocks out of foreign investors' top 20 picks on the benchmark KOSPI and tech-heavy KOSDAQ plunged from Jan. 2 to Wednesday while only three of them did so among local institutional investors' list.
Analysts said the difference came from their portfolios. They said foreign investors focused on motor and information technology chips while their Korean institutional counterparts bought shares from diverse industries, including the retail sector, which performed better than the market average.
"Worries on big chips, such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, are increasing, but mid and small caps are expected to show robust performances," said IBK Securities in a report.
The index for large caps edged up 1.7 percent this year, while the corresponding figures for mid and small caps jumped 38.3 percent and 39.1 percent, respectively, according to the bourse operator Korea Exchange.
For instance, Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts maker in the second spot on foreigners' shopping list with a net buying of 604.8 billion won ($557.3 million), fell 14.8 percent, going down with its parent company Hyundai Motor and sister company Kia Motor on poor vehicle sales and a grim outlook.
Tech shares also remain tepid. Chip giant SK hynix, which took fourth place in the foreign investors' shopping cart, retreated 17.7 percent. Naver, the nation's leading portal operator which ranked sixth on the list, decreased 15 percent over the period, data showed.
However, Korean institutional investors turned their eyes to retailers which posted better performances than market average. Shares of Shinsegae, their top pick, rose 19.61 percent during the same period. Korean institutional investors' No. 7 choice E-mart also saw its stock price hike 19.46 percent for the six-and-half months.
Offshore investors, who have traditionally favored blue chip stocks over small cap shares, have bought a net 7.63 trillion won worth of Korean stocks in the main KOSPI market this year, but their holdings ratio declined due to the lackluster performance of blue chip stocks.
But, some chips that foreign investors chose showed remarkable performances this year. Shares of LG Chem, foreign investors' top pick, increased 44.2 percent during the same period, helping them compensate for their losses.
Local institutional investors beat their foreign counterparts in stock management this year thanks to their more diverse portfolios, data from a financial information provider showed Thursday.
WISEfn said shares of 11 stocks out of foreign investors' top 20 picks on the benchmark KOSPI and tech-heavy KOSDAQ plunged from Jan. 2 to Wednesday while only three of them did so among local institutional investors' list.
Analysts said the difference came from their portfolios. They said foreign investors focused on motor and information technology chips while their Korean institutional counterparts bought shares from diverse industries, including the retail sector, which performed better than the market average.
"Worries on big chips, such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, are increasing, but mid and small caps are expected to show robust performances," said IBK Securities in a report.
The index for large caps edged up 1.7 percent this year, while the corresponding figures for mid and small caps jumped 38.3 percent and 39.1 percent, respectively, according to the bourse operator Korea Exchange.
For instance, Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts maker in the second spot on foreigners' shopping list with a net buying of 604.8 billion won ($557.3 million), fell 14.8 percent, going down with its parent company Hyundai Motor and sister company Kia Motor on poor vehicle sales and a grim outlook.
Tech shares also remain tepid. Chip giant SK hynix, which took fourth place in the foreign investors' shopping cart, retreated 17.7 percent. Naver, the nation's leading portal operator which ranked sixth on the list, decreased 15 percent over the period, data showed.
However, Korean institutional investors turned their eyes to retailers which posted better performances than market average. Shares of Shinsegae, their top pick, rose 19.61 percent during the same period. Korean institutional investors' No. 7 choice E-mart also saw its stock price hike 19.46 percent for the six-and-half months.
Offshore investors, who have traditionally favored blue chip stocks over small cap shares, have bought a net 7.63 trillion won worth of Korean stocks in the main KOSPI market this year, but their holdings ratio declined due to the lackluster performance of blue chip stocks.
But, some chips that foreign investors chose showed remarkable performances this year. Shares of LG Chem, foreign investors' top pick, increased 44.2 percent during the same period, helping them compensate for their losses.
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