Overseas stock funds draw huge money this year

SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean funds for overseas stock investment have attracted a large amount of money this year thanks to tax benefits for them amid share rallies in Asia, a market tracker said Tuesday.

Overseas equity-linked investment funds posted a net money inflow of about 2.8 trillion won (US$2.57 billion) in the year to Friday, according to KG Zeroin.

The figure strikes a sharp contrast to a net outflow of some 6.2 trillion won from domestic stock funds during the same period.

In November alone, overseas stock investment funds lured nearly 1.4 trillion won as investors rushed to them ahead of the upcoming end to tax breaks.

In March last year, South Korea introduced tax-exempt overseas investment funds, which are slated to be abolished at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the average return of equity investment funds for Asian emerging markets came to 35.5 percent this year, the highest yield among overseas stock funds with net assets of 1 billion won or more.

Funds for investing in Chinese stocks came next with a return rate of 33.2 percent, followed by investment funds for Vietnamese equities with 29.8 percent and those for the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, with 29.4 percent.

Market watchers attributed the stellar performance of stock investment funds for Asian emerging nations to their roaring equity markets, backed by brisk exports and domestic demand amid a global economic recovery.

"Over the mid and long term, Asia is a market with great potential for asset inflation amid a gradually increasing portion of the middle class," said Oh On-soo, a KB Securities analyst. "Investments in Asian stocks are likely to register high returns."
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