KB Asset launches fund to invest in US blue chips

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On March 16, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange near the end of the trading day. (AP-Yonhap)

Seoul-based KB Asset Management said Monday it has launched a fund that targets blue chips listed in the US stock exchanges.

The open-ended fund is raising funds from South Korean retail investors and is expected to invest in US firms that generate stable income supported by their new growth engine, such as Amazon, Apple and Alphabet.

At least 70 percent of the funds will go to large-cap stocks, KB Asset said.

“The US is taking the lead in new growth engine industries, and is expected to achieve long-term growth led by blue chip firms,” Park In-ho, managing director of KB Asset’s retail division, said in a statement.

KB Asset will take charge of the fund’s portfolio construction, while its sister brokerage company KB Securities will offer investment advice and asset allocation models to the fund manager, by teaming up with Missouri-based financial services firm Stifel Financial.

The company was overseeing 86.24 trillion won ($69.41 billion) assets, two-thirds of which are equities, as of Thursday.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)