John Lee Meritz Asset Management CEO.John Lee Meritz Asset Management’s CEO expressed the opinion that Korean companies should be raised by increasing domestic stock investments in the national pension and pension funds. Pension funds are selling in the domestic stock market this year, and they expressed their regret.
In an interview with Maekyung.com on the 9th, CEO Jon Lee said, “The pension fund is continually selling Korean stocks because of the reduction in the proportion of domestic stocks.” Said.
In fact, pension funds are selling domestic stocks for a single day this year. In particular, after December 24 last year, it is showing’selling’ on the 32nd trading day before the holidays. This is the longest period ever, and domestic stocks sold by pension funds amounted to 10,811.8 billion won.
The net selling of pension funds in Korea is to control the proportion of asset allocation. According to the National Pension Plan’s fund management plan, the target share of stocks this year was 16.8%, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous year. As the KOSPI broke through the box and soared, it was forced to sell the stocks in the portfolio.
“The pension fund should improve the competitiveness of companies by increasing domestic stock investment and play a leading role in Korea’s next level.” Pointed out.
There was also an explanation that the pension fund should create various positive effects such as job creation and infrastructure expansion by investing in domestic companies. In addition, if the inflow of pension funds increases, more young people will be able to start startups.
Some people compare domestic pension funds as’a whale in a pond’. As the domestic market influence has increased due to its large size, it means that now we must turn our eyes to foreign investment. However, this is a very wrong idea, said John Lee.
He said, “You have to think about turning the pond into a river or sea.” “The national infrastructure is strong. It is nonsense to ignore it and increase the proportion of foreign investment.”
It is explained that there are many companies to invest in from the pension fund standpoint as domestic stocks still have a higher growth potential than overseas stocks. In particular, he pointed out that although the pension fund has grown in size, the KOSPI should also invest with the judgment that it will reach 30,000 points in the long term.
On the other hand, some misunderstandings about being seen as a supporter of short selling have also been clarified. Representative John Lee recently appeared on a terrestrial broadcast and explained the net function of the short selling system. Accordingly, some investors were criticized for unconditionally praising short selling.
CEO Jon Lee said, “Rather than approving short selling itself, it explains the net function of short selling.”
However, he emphasized that short selling is basically a method of investing by borrowing stocks, so you have to buy them in the end. It is explained that the upward trend of investment cannot be reversed forever.
“There may be some impact on those who invest in short-term returns, but it doesn’t mean short selling or not for long-term investors,” said John Lee. “Anyway, companies with good fundamentals end up raising stock prices. I don’t think there is a need to react,” he added.
[김경택 매경닷컴 기자 [email protected]]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]