Korea's equity-linked securities sales hit record in H1

SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's issuance of equity-linked securities (ELS) soared to a record high in the first half of this year as more investors opted to indirectly buy stocks, the securities depository agency said Wednesday.
Local brokerages issued a total of 19.8 trillion won (US$18.6 billion) worth of the derivatives product in the January-June period, up 83.8 percent from the same period last year, according to the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).
Equity-linked securities are hybrid debt securities whose return is connected to the performance of an underlying equity.
The KSD said the on-year growth was largely fueled by the bullish stock market, which lured more investors to buy the derivatives product. The country's main bourse hit a fresh high of 2,228.96 on May 2.
Market watchers, meanwhile, said that investors opted to buy ELS products to reduce risks from market volatility, stemming from worries over the eurozone debt crisis and a slowdown in the global economic recovery.
Redemption upon maturity slightly fell, with securities firms paying out a total of 14.3 trillion won in the six-month period, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier, the KSD said.
mil@yna.co.kr