Korea Investment Corp., Seoul, reported a 13.7% investment gain for 2020, lifting the value of its portfolio to $183.1 billion.
The stubborn presence of the coronavirus pandemic could weigh on longer-term investment returns, but in 2020, stocks delivered stellar returns as central banks pumped liquidity into the system, CEO Heenam Choi said.
The rally helped KIC garner $21.8 billion in investment gains for the year — a second year in a row of strong results for the fund, the release said. The year before, KIC posted a 15.4% gain, with more than $20 billion in investment gains.
Combined investment gains of $42 billion over the past two years amount to more than half of the $71 billion in gains made since the sovereign wealth fund was established in 2006.
At the end of 2020, KIC had 84.7% of its portfolio invested in traditional asset classes, with 42.7% in equities, 35.2% in fixed income and the rest in other asset segments, including cash and inflation-linked bonds, a spokeswoman for the fund said. The remaining 15.3% of the portfolio was invested in alternative assets.
At the end of the previous year, KIC had 84.4% invested in traditional assets, with 40.8% in equities, 35.5% in bonds and 8.1% in other segments, while 15.6% of its portfolio was parked in alternative assets.