Foreign investment in Korean companies jumps 30% in a year

Foreign investment in listed companies here surged by about 30 percent over the past year, led largely by U.S. asset managers and investment funds.

Cosmetics, semiconductors and biotechnology attracted particularly strong interest, data showed Wednesday.

According to CEO Score, a corporate research firm, foreign companies and funds held stakes of at least 5 percent in 123 of Korea’s 500 largest listed companies by market capitalization as of June.

The figure was up 29.5 percent from 95 a year earlier.

By country, U.S.-based investors accounted for more than half of the total, with holdings in 69 companies.

They were followed by European investors with holdings in 25 companies, Japanese investors with 10 and Chinese investors with eight.

BlackRock held stakes in the largest number of Korean-listed companies.

The world’s largest asset manager added 12 companies to its portfolio of holdings of at least 5 percent, becoming a major shareholder in 19 Korean companies.

Its largest holdings included stakes of 7.41 percent in KB Financial Group, 7.22 percent in Hana Financial Group, 7.18 perc ...