SEOUL, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Purchase of foreign securities by South Korean financial institutions hit a record high in the first quarter, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Institutional investors, including insurers, brokerages and asset management firms, owned foreign securities worth 192.95 billion U.S. dollars as of end-March, up 19.15 billion dollars from three months earlier, Bank of Korea (BOK) data showed.
The figure marked the biggest quarterly increase since the bank began compiling the data. The previous record was a 19.05 billion-dollar growth tallied in the third quarter of last year.
Asset managers and insurers increased investment into foreign securities to seek high-yield assets overseas amid the record-low interest rate.
The BOK cut its benchmark interest rate from 3.25 percent in July 2012 to an all-time low of 1.25 percent in June last year.
Foreign securities purchase by asset management companies jumped 11.59 billion dollars in the January-March quarter, while insurers increase the foreign securities holdings by 4.33 billion dollars.
The holdings of foreign stocks increased 6.68 billion dollars from three months earlier to 52.51 billion dollars as of end-March, while the ownership of foreign bonds climbed 11.23 billion dollars to 98.69 billion dollars.
