Continued Buying Despite Short-Term Rally
Investment Driven by Expectations for "Venture Capital Revitalization" Policies
Since the beginning of this month, pension funds have purchased over 80 billion won in the KOSDAQ market, concentrating their buying on robotics, pharmaceuticals, and biotech stocks.
According to the Korea Exchange on December 7, pension funds recorded a net purchase of 80.7 billion won in the KOSDAQ market from December 1 to 5. Pension funds refer to institutional investors managing public pension funds such as the National Pension Service, Teachers’ Pension, Government Employees Pension, and Military Pension.
The stocks that pension funds have focused on buying this month are mainly in the robotics, pharmaceuticals, and biotech sectors. The top net purchases were: Robotis (26.8 billion won), Rainbow Robotics (11.2 billion won), Alteogen (9.4 billion won), and Oscotec (8.7 billion won).
Pension funds' trading volume in the KOSDAQ market shifted from a net sale of 57.1 billion won in October to a net purchase of 21.5 billion won in November, and this buying momentum has continued into December.
Recent daily net purchases were: 81.8 billion won on November 28, 63.8 billion won on December 1, 25.7 billion won on December 2, 17.6 billion won on December 3, and 14.9 billion won on December 4, marking five consecutive trading days of net buying. During this period, the KOSDAQ index showed an upward trend. In particular, from November 25 to December 3, the index rose for six consecutive trading days, climbing by 8.87%. However, on December 5, as profit-taking followed the short-term surge and the KOSDAQ weakened, pension funds recorded a net sale of 41.4 billion won.
On December 5, the KOSDAQ index closed at 924.74, up 12.07 points (1.32%) from the previous week. Since the sharp 3.71% rise on November 28, the index has maintained its strong momentum. The total trading value in the KOSDAQ market for the past week was 11.3946 trillion won, a 31.9% increase compared to the previous week's 8.639 trillion won.
Some analysts interpret the actions of pension funds as being in line with the government's policy to revitalize the venture capital ecosystem. As the government is reportedly reviewing measures to boost the KOSDAQ market, there is speculation that one of these measures could be to structurally increase the proportion of pension fund investments in the KOSDAQ. In fact, in 2017, the KOSDAQ index surged by 30% following government measures to stimulate the market.
The securities industry expects that the expansion of KOSDAQ investments by pension funds, known as major players in the stock market, could inject vitality into the market as a whole. However, there are also criticisms that the effects of previous government policies to boost the KOSDAQ have not been sustained in the long term, highlighting the need for supplementary measures.
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