Samsung ABF Korea Long-Term Bond Index Fund Surpasses 900 Billion KRW in Net Assets

Samsung Asset Management announced on the 25th that its long-term bond public fund, 'Samsung ABF Korea Long-Term Bond Index,' recorded net assets of 916.8 billion KRW.

Established in 2005 and managed for about 19 years, it has maintained stable returns and continued steady capital inflows. It has grown to become the largest among 54 domestic government and public bond public funds.

The Samsung ABF Korea Long-Term Bond Index fund is a bond fund product that invests in government bonds, government-guaranteed corporate bonds, and special bank bonds, characterized by managing assets with an average credit rating of AAA or higher to minimize credit risk. Since it invests in long-term bonds, the average fund duration is around 8.47 years, allowing for increased capital gains when bond yields decline, thus expecting high returns. Even when interest rates rise, investing in bonds with various maturities helps to partially defend against losses.

The benchmark index, 'iBoxx ABF Korea Index,' is calculated and managed by Markit Indices Limited, a global index provider. It is composed mainly of risk-free credit-rated bonds, with monthly selection and rebalancing of individual bond issues to maintain duration and ensure liquidity.

The Samsung ABF Korea Long-Term Bond Index fund has shown steady and stable performance. Its one-year return was 10.3%, surpassing the average return of 6.7% for funds of the same type. The cumulative return since inception reached 108.7%.

ABF stands for 'Asian Bond Fund,' established in 2003 by the central banks of 11 East Asian countries, including Korea, to revitalize the Asian bond market. The 'ABF Korea Fund' is a sub-fund within the ABF fund that invests in individual country bonds, specifically Korean bonds. The ABF fund management institutions are selected through consultation with Mercer, a professional evaluation agency. Since Samsung Asset Management was selected as the ABF fund manager in 2005, it has been managing the ABF Korea Fund to date.

Samsung Asset Management has built a system to respond to diverse investment demands and rapidly changing financial environments based on the country's largest in-house research system. By securing pre-, mid-, and post-risk management systems through advanced risk management, it has led the stable performance of this product.

Lee Sang-jun, manager at Samsung Asset Management, said, "Next year, we expect a gradual rate-cut cycle for economic recovery due to the possibility of domestic demand stagnation and export slowdown, alongside relatively stable inflation compared to advanced countries." He added, "Although the Samsung ABF Korea Long-Term Bond Index fund has a duration of about 8.47 years, the bond maturities range widely from 1 to 50 years, which is a great advantage as it allows responding to both rising and falling interest rate markets through various strategies."