Korea / Special Situations, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Situations

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>The main issue with IFRS 18 is that it counts non-regular items like asset sales or FX gains as operating profit, potentially misleading investors about a company’s actual business performance.</li>
<li>As the Korean market might re-rate, companies with solid English IR materials could attract more global attention, creating trading opportunities, while others might face a significant flow gap.</li>
<li>As Blue Orca’s Soren Aandahl noted, small- and mid-cap stocks, especially those with English IR updates, could drive trading flows as the 2027 IFRS 18 rollout approaches.</li>
</ul>


The main issue with IFRS 18 is that it counts non-regular items like asset sales or FX gains as operating profit, potentially misleading investors about a company’s actual business performance.
As the Korean market might re-rate, companies with solid English IR materials could attract more global attention, creating trading opportunities, while others might face a significant flow gap.
As Blue Orca’s Soren Aandahl noted, small- and mid-cap stocks, especially those with English IR updates, could drive trading flows as the 2027 IFRS 18 rollout approaches.


New Trading Angle for Korean Market Re-Rating: Flow Gap from English IR Materials

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Korea Development Bank (KDB) plans to raise around US$740m via selling around 5%+ stake in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hanwha-ocean-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12531:1" rel="noopener">Hanwha Ocean (042660 KS)</a>.</li>
<li>HO’s shares have nearly tripled since the start of the year, and the company reported its results today.</li>
<li>In this note, we will run the deal through our ECM framework and talk about the recent updates.</li>
</ul>


Korea Development Bank (KDB) plans to raise around US$740m via selling around 5%+ stake in Hanwha Ocean (042660 KS).
HO’s shares have nearly tripled since the start of the year, and the company reported its results today.
In this note, we will run the deal through our ECM framework and talk about the recent updates.


Hanwha Ocean Placement - Recent Run-Up, Results Make It Tricky

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we highlight the recent pricing gap divergences of the major Korean holdcos and opcos which could provide trading opportunities in 1Q 2025.</li>
<li>The recent martial law cancellation and numerous impeachments of acting Presidents have raised political uncertainty in Korea resulting in widening of some gaps among numerous holdcos and opcos in Korea.</li>
<li>Of the 38 pair trades, 25 of them involved holdcos outperforming opcos in the past six months and the other 13 opcos outperforming holdcos in the same period.</li>
</ul>


In this insight, we highlight the recent pricing gap divergences of the major Korean holdcos and opcos which could provide trading opportunities in 1Q 2025.
The recent martial law cancellation and numerous impeachments of acting Presidents have raised political uncertainty in Korea resulting in widening of some gaps among numerous holdcos and opcos in Korea.
Of the 38 pair trades, 25 of them involved holdcos outperforming opcos in the past six months and the other 13 opcos outperforming holdcos in the same period.


Korean Holdcos Vs Opcos Gap Trading Opportunities in 1Q 2025

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The review period for the March rebalance of the KOSPI Size Indices commenced on 1 December and will end on 28 February.</li>
<li>A quarter of the way through the review period, we forecast 37 migrating stocks. Among new listings, 1 could be added to LargeCap, 3 to MidCap and 2 to SmallCap.</li>
<li>Four downward migrations were deleted from a global index in November. Now, three more downward migrations could be deleted from the same global index in February.</li>
</ul>


The review period for the March rebalance of the KOSPI Size Indices commenced on 1 December and will end on 28 February.
A quarter of the way through the review period, we forecast 37 migrating stocks. Among new listings, 1 could be added to LargeCap, 3 to MidCap and 2 to SmallCap.
Four downward migrations were deleted from a global index in November. Now, three more downward migrations could be deleted from the same global index in February.


KOSPI Size Indices: Overlap Between Global Passive Selling & Downward Migrations

<ul>
<li>Korea’s impeachment drama hit a tipping point, with the second motion against Yoon set for a vote on the 14th, and the market pricing in a 100% chance of approval.</li>
<li>The market’s all-in on a Democratic Party win in May, as public sentiment against the president makes the ruling party’s chances virtually non-existent.</li>
<li>Target stocks impacted by corporate law changes, then focus on sector-specific plays, particularly the energy policy shift and growing support for virtual assets.</li>
</ul>


Korea’s impeachment drama hit a tipping point, with the second motion against Yoon set for a vote on the 14th, and the market pricing in a 100% chance of approval.
The market’s all-in on a Democratic Party win in May, as public sentiment against the president makes the ruling party’s chances virtually non-existent.
Target stocks impacted by corporate law changes, then focus on sector-specific plays, particularly the energy policy shift and growing support for virtual assets.


Yoon’s Impeachment a Lock, Regime Change Trade Set for May

South Korea

Hanwha Solution Corporation is a chemical manufacturer.  The Company's products include a line of chlorine alkali chemicals, such as caustic soda, chlorine, and hydrochloric acid.  Hanwha also produces resins including low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

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Hanwha Solutions (009830 KS)

New Trading Angle for Korean Market Re-Rating: Flow Gap from English IR Materials

This post discusses a new trading angle for the Korean stock market re-rating: the flow gap created by providing English IR materials.

Sanghyun Park

Hanwha Ocean Placement - Recent Run-Up, Results Make It Tricky

Korea Development Bank (KDB) plans to raise around US$740m via selling around 5%+ stake in Hanwha Ocean (042660 KS). In this note, we talk about...

Sumeet Singh

Korean Holdcos Vs Opcos Gap Trading Opportunities in 1Q 2025

In this insight, we highlight the recent pricing gap divergences of the major Korean holdcos and opcos which could provide trading opportunities in...

Douglas Kim

KOSPI Size Indices: Overlap Between Global Passive Selling & Downward Migrations

There could be 37 migrations for the KOSPI Size indices in March, plus 1 LargeCap and 3 MidCap inclusions. The MidCap to LargeCap migrations have...

Brian Freitas

Yoon’s Impeachment a Lock, Regime Change Trade Set for May

Yoon’s impeachment is pretty much a lock, with the market pricing in a 100% chance. We should get ready for theme trading plays aiming at the...

Sanghyun Park

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