Photo = Reporter Kim Byung-eon
Samsung Electronics and Celltrion shareholders have had a hard time throughout the year. This is because the stock price, which peaked at the beginning of the year, continued to slide and took the loss. However, I have continued to invest with the conviction that someday it will rebound.
The earnest wish came earlier than expected. Both stocks have been very good lately. Celltrion’s Corona 19 treatment ‘Lekinora’ has been officially approved in Europe. At Samsung Electronics, a signal has finally emerged that the semiconductor industry is recovering.
But it was only a flashy rise. Samsung Electronics rose to 76,200 won during the morning of the 24th, but fell again to the low 70,000 won level and ended this week. Celltrion rose 9% on the first trading day (15th) after approval of the treatment, but turned to a downward trend the next day.
At the center of the decline was pension funds. In the past month, pension funds net sold Samsung Electronics for 413 billion won. Net sales in the last three months amounted to KRW 1.5727 trillion. Foreigners turned to buying from two weeks ago, but it was not enough to overcome the selling trend of pension funds.
Selling bombs were also poured on Celltrion. In the past month, the net selling amount was 104.8 billion won, making it the third largest net seller of the pension fund.
Minority shareholders complained that the selling of pension funds was more painful than the short selling. Because it did not stop even at the decisive moment before the rebound. A Samsung Electronics shareholder said, “I thought it was going up now, but I missed the timing to pay the price because of the sale of the pension fund.”
Celltrion shareholders even raise ‘short selling collusion’. You can’t sell like this without making a decision. One minority shareholder said, “There were 58 trading days from September 1 to November 26, and the pension fund sold Celltrion in 52 trading days.”
Whenever the sale of pension funds became controversial, the National Pension Service received all the criticism. Although there are other institutions such as the Korea Post, private tutoring pension, and civil servant pension, the national pension accounts for more than 90% of the investment.
The National Pension Service has always expressed its position that it is unfair. They do not directly trade individual stocks, but they are being misunderstood as if they were buying and selling stocks with a specific intention. In fact, the National Pension Service entrusts most of the trading of individual stocks to an entrusted management company.
It is highly probable that Samsung Electronics and Celltrion’s sales volume did not come out intentionally. In the process of reducing the proportion of domestic stocks, they must have been sold mechanically or sold by some commissioned management companies. However, the controversy is not easily settled.
Some shareholders are calling for a halt to selling individual stocks. Even if you do not directly trade stocks, the National Pension Service should be held responsible for the stocks you own. The Korea Equity Investors Association, a group of individual investors, said, “To insist on and expose a sell-off strategy without any gradual adjustment is to send a strong low-priced buy signal to foreigners and institutions.”
It deals with the news of the Yeouido stock market and the stories of ants. <불개미 구조대>is published every Saturday. By subscribing to the press page below, you can receive articles without missing out.
By Park Eui-myeong, staff reporter uimyung@hankyung.com
