SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's institutional investment in foreign securities grew in the third quarter amid a solid demand by asset managers for foreign stocks and bonds, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Foreign securities, held by financial institutions such as asset management firms and insurance companies, reached 312.4 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of September, up 12.1 billion dollars from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The increase came as asset managers raised the holdings of foreign stocks and bonds, the BOK noted.
The ownership of foreign bonds expanded 8.8 billion dollars from three months earlier to 174.2 billion dollars as of end-September.
The holdings of foreign stocks gained 3 billion dollars during the third quarter, after advancing 9.3 billion dollars in the first quarter and 4.7 billion dollars in the second quarter each.
The investment in the so-called Korean Paper, issued overseas by local residents, amounted to 42.2 billion dollars in the quarter.
