It was found that pension funds made net purchases of more than 80 billion won in the KOSDAQ market this month alone. They focused on stocks related to robots and pharmaceuticals/biotech in particular.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 7th, pension funds made net purchases of 80.7 billion won in the KOSDAQ market from the 1st to the 5th. Pension funds refers to institutional investors that manage public pension funds such as the National Pension Service, the Teachers' Pension, the Government Employees Pension Service, and the Military Pension.
In the KOSDAQ market, pension funds' transaction amount shifted from net sales of 57.1 billion won in October to net purchases of 21.5 billion won last month. Buying momentum is continuing this month as well.
In particular, they recorded five consecutive trading days (Nov. 28–Dec. 4) of net buying. However, on the 5th, when the KOSDAQ weakened on profit-taking, they posted net sales of 41.4 billion won.
Pension funds showed interest in robot and pharmaceuticals/biotech stocks. The most net-bought stocks this month were ROBOTIS, Rainbow Robotics, Alteogen, Oscotec, and EcoPro BM, in that order.
Some view this move by pension funds as aligning with the government's policy to revitalize the venture capital ecosystem. The government is continuously reviewing measures to boost the KOSDAQ market. Among the options, there is speculation that measures could be introduced to structurally raise pension funds' allocation to KOSDAQ investments.
The securities industry judged that expanded investment by pension funds could inject warmth across the KOSDAQ market.
Kim Seong-no, an analyst at BNK Securities, said, "Interest in the KOSDAQ and small- and mid-cap stocks is growing on expectations for the government's 'KOSDAQ revitalization measures' and pension funds' execution of funds into small- and mid-caps," adding, "In particular, in 2017, there was a case where the KOSDAQ index surged 30% due to 'KOSDAQ revitalization measures.'"