The sale of derivatives-linked securities in South Korea hit a fresh record high last year as investors sought high-yield assets amid the low interest rate and the lackluster stock market, financial watchdog data showed Thursday.
The combined issuance of equity-linked securities (ELS) and other derivatives-linked securities (DLS) reached a new high of 115.9 trillion won (101.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, topping the prior high of 111.6 trillion won (97.9 billion U.S. dollars) tallied in 2017, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
It came as investors looked to higher-yield assets amid the near-record-low policy rate and the stock market volatility.
The derivatives-linked securities refer to financial products structured to trail the performance of underlying assets, such as equities and stock indexes for the ELS, and interest rates and currency values for the DLS.
The ELS issuance advanced 5.6 trillion won (4.9 billion U.S. dollars) over the year to touch a new high of 86.7 trillion won (76.1 billion U.S. dollars) last year.
The DLS sale, however, reduced 1.3 trillion won (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) to 29.2 trillion won (25.6 billion U.S. dollars).