NH Investment & Securities Signs Strategic Index Business Agreement with KIS Bond Evaluation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] NH Investment & Securities announced on the 19th that it signed a 'Strategic Index Business Partnership Agreement (MOU)' with KIS Bond Evaluation at its new office building in Yeouido. The signing ceremony was attended by Jung Yong-seok, Vice President of NH Investment & Securities, and Yoon Ki, CEO of KIS Bond Evaluation, among others.

Through this agreement, NH Investment & Securities will proceed with the development of indices that invest in various domestic and international bonds and bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs). To establish a foundation for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) bond indices, which are the hottest topics in the financial market, they will promote the development of the 'KIS-iSelect ESG Bond Index (tentative name),' combining NH Investment & Securities' expertise in index development and calculation with KIS Bond Evaluation's bond evaluation technology.

KIS Bond Evaluation acquires accurate issuance, distribution, and actual transaction data of bonds and converts them into a database (DB). By integrating financial engineering methods and information technology (IT), it provides standardized solutions for financial product evaluation. Based on this, they plan to develop an ESG bond index that can quickly reflect market demand in collaboration with NH Investment & Securities.

They also plan to develop thematic bond indices that track various products such as domestic and international bonds and bond ETFs. The synergy effect between NH Investment & Securities Research Division's investigative and analytical capabilities and KIS Bond Evaluation's data system is expected to be significant.

Vice President Jung Yong-seok stated, "We are very pleased to become a new index development partner with KIS Bond Evaluation, a financial product evaluation specialist company boasting the industry's highest trust and reputation," adding, "Together with NH Investment & Securities' know-how in index development, we expect to lead the paradigm of the Korean passive market as well as ESG."