ELS sales in S. Korea gain 4.6 pct in 2021

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- Sales of equity-linked securities (ELS) in South Korea expanded nearly 5 percent in 2021 from a year earlier on greater issuance of products tracking overseas stocks, data showed Friday.

The value of ELS products floated in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 72.2 trillion won (US$60.5 billion) last year, up 4.6 percent from the prior year, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository.

ELS refers to hybrid debt securities whose returns are linked to the performance of underlying equities, including a stock index.

Sales of ELS tracking the S&P 500 and the Euro Stoxx 50 climbed 15.6 percent and 16.4 percent in 2021 from a year earlier, respectively. In contrast, those of ELS based on South Korea's KOSPI 200 inched down 0.9 percent.

ELS products worth 76.2 trillion won were redeemed last year, down 2.9 percent from a year earlier.

The outstanding value of ELS products amounted to 57.6 trillion won as of end-December last year, down 6.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data.

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