Korea Investment Corporation Sold 90,000 Shares Before SVB Bankruptcy

The sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) sold a significant portion of the shares of SVB's parent company it held just before the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) bankruptcy crisis.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, as of December 31 last year, KIC reported holding 20,087 shares of SVB Financial, the parent company of SVB, with an estimated value of approximately $4.623 million (about 6.02 billion KRW based on the exchange rate on that day).

This represents a decrease of 82.3% (93,474 shares) compared to the 113,561 shares (approximately $38.132 million or about 49.65 billion KRW) reported on September 30 last year, meaning that over 40 billion KRW worth of shares were sold during the fourth quarter.

KIC had significantly increased its stake in SVB Financial starting from the third quarter of 2021, when the U.S. stock market was on the rise, holding up to 143,520 shares (approximately $88.309 million or 114.94 billion KRW) as of the end of March last year, but has since gradually reduced its holdings.

On the other hand, the National Pension Service increased its stake from 80,911 shares at the end of September last year to 100,795 shares by the end of the year. However, the valuation decreased from $27.342 million (35.62 billion KRW) to $23.197 million (30.2 billion KRW). Only direct investments by the National Pension Service were reflected, excluding entrusted management portions.