Securities firms halt sales of Homeplus investment funds amid court-led rehabilitation

A Homeplus store in Seoul, Sunday / Yonhap

Securities firms are halting the sales of public funds that include Homeplus short-term bonds amid concerns over the recovery of investment funds, as the country’s No. 2 supermarket chain entered corporate rehabilitation proceedings, industry officials said Monday.

NH Investment & Securities and Eugene Investment & Securities suspended the sales of a fund-of-funds created by Mirae Asset Global Investments. The product invests in multiple funds, with more than 50 percent of its assets allocated to private equity funds, which include Homeplus short-term bonds in their investment targets.

The total fund size is approximately 86 billion won ($59 million).

“We decided to halt the sale of the fund to protect investors,” a Eugene Investment & Securities official said. “The timing for the resumption of new purchases will be determined based on market conditions.”

KB Securities and Kiwoom Securities already halted the sales of the fund last Friday. Both firms cited “investor protection” as the reason for the suspension on their websites.

Mirae Asset Global Investments, which manages the fund, said that Homeplus-related assets in the fund are small and have been written down, so there are no issues with redemptions or other transactions.

On March 4, Homeplus filed for corporate rehabilitation with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court, stating, “The decision was inevitable to proactively ease potential short-term financial burdens arising from a credit rating downgrade.”

Its corporate bond rating was downgraded from A3 to A3- at the end of last month.