Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we discuss strategies for outperformance amid market convulsions and downturn. </li>
<li>In particular, we highlight six reasons why it may be a wise move to position one's portfolio more defensively (at least for the next several months).</li>
<li>Warren Buffett slashed nearly half of his holdings in Apple, which was probably one of the main triggers of the tremendous market sell off in Asian markets on Monday.</li>
</ul>


In this insight, we discuss strategies for outperformance amid market convulsions and downturn. 
In particular, we highlight six reasons why it may be a wise move to position one's portfolio more defensively (at least for the next several months).
Warren Buffett slashed nearly half of his holdings in Apple, which was probably one of the main triggers of the tremendous market sell off in Asian markets on Monday.


6 Major Signs of Market Downturn and Strategy for Outperformance Amid Market Convulsions

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.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/k-bank-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36073:1" rel="noopener">K Bank (279570 KS)</a> raised around US$340m in its South Korean IPO in March 2026. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.</li>
<li>K Bank is one of three Internet-only banks in Korea. It provides a full range of commercial banking products and services.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



K Bank (279570 KS) raised around US$340m in its South Korean IPO in March 2026. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.
K Bank is one of three Internet-only banks in Korea. It provides a full range of commercial banking products and services.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Aequitas Kbank Lockup Expiry - Most Investors Will Be Out of Lockup, as 23% of Stock Is Released

<ul>
<li>FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun mentioned that too many companies in Korea are trading below book value and the FSC plans to implement changes to improve upon this issue. </li>
<li>According to Korea Exchange, 1,111 companies out of total listed in KOSPI and KOSDAQ in Korea (2,538) are trading at below 1x book value (PBR) (liquidation value). </li>
<li>According to the Capital Group, about 39% of companies in the TOPIX trade below book value, compared to just 5% for companies in the S&amp;P 500 Index. </li>
</ul>


FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun mentioned that too many companies in Korea are trading below book value and the FSC plans to implement changes to improve upon this issue. 
According to Korea Exchange, 1,111 companies out of total listed in KOSPI and KOSDAQ in Korea (2,538) are trading at below 1x book value (PBR) (liquidation value). 
According to the Capital Group, about 39% of companies in the TOPIX trade below book value, compared to just 5% for companies in the S&amp;P 500 Index. 


44% of Korean Stocks Are Trading Below Book Value - FSC Wants to Improve This (Following Japan)

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>We remain constructive on global equities as long as the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US) holds above major support at $90.50-91.50.</li>
<li>We continue to monitor for whether ACWI-US and EEM-US break supports at $90.50-91.50 and $37, or if broken indexes (EURO STOXX 50, MSCI ACWI ex-US, EAFE) can reclaim supports.</li>
<li>Neither has happened yet, so we remain in wait-and-see mode. We are downgrading non-US small-caps to market weight. Non-US Value remains leadership -- remain overweight/buys in Financials and Communications</li>
</ul>


We remain constructive on global equities as long as the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US) holds above major support at $90.50-91.50.
We continue to monitor for whether ACWI-US and EEM-US break supports at $90.50-91.50 and $37, or if broken indexes (EURO STOXX 50, MSCI ACWI ex-US, EAFE) can reclaim supports.
Neither has happened yet, so we remain in wait-and-see mode. We are downgrading non-US small-caps to market weight. Non-US Value remains leadership -- remain overweight/buys in Financials and Communications


MSCI ACWI, MSCI EM Still Above Supports; Buys in Global Value - Financials and Communications

EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>Key support levels on global equity indexes (EURO STOXX 50, $ACWX, $EFA) are beginning to break as the U.S. dollar (DXY) and 10-year Treasury yield break above $105.70 and 4.35%.</li>
<li>This significantly increases the odds of a break below major $92-$93 support on $ACWI, and we would shift to a more cautious outlook only on a break below $92.</li>
<li>We shifted to overweight value within non-U.S. equities last week, and we are now also shifting to overweight small-caps within non-U.S. equities as well. Buys in Transportation, Communications, and HealthCare</li>
</ul>


Key support levels on global equity indexes (EURO STOXX 50, $ACWX, $EFA) are beginning to break as the U.S. dollar (DXY) and 10-year Treasury yield break above $105.70 and 4.35%.
This significantly increases the odds of a break below major $92-$93 support on $ACWI, and we would shift to a more cautious outlook only on a break below $92.
We shifted to overweight value within non-U.S. equities last week, and we are now also shifting to overweight small-caps within non-U.S. equities as well. Buys in Transportation, Communications, and HealthCare


Supports Starting to Break; Upgrading Non-U.S. Small-Caps to Overweight; Transports/Comm/HC Buys

South Korea

KT Corporation provides telecommunication services including local, long distance, and international calling, satellite communication, data transmission, and wireless telephone services in South Korea.  The Company also offers network portal and high-speed Internet access services using asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSLs).

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KT Corp (030200 KS)

6 Major Signs of Market Downturn and Strategy for Outperformance Amid Market Convulsions

In this insight, we discuss strategies for outperformance amid market convulsions and downturn. We highlight six reasons why it may be a wise move...

Douglas Kim

Aequitas Kbank Lockup Expiry - Most Investors Will Be Out of Lockup, as 23% of Stock Is Released

K Bank (279570 KS) raised around US$340m in its South Korean IPO in March 2026. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.

Sumeet Singh

44% of Korean Stocks Are Trading Below Book Value - FSC Wants to Improve This (Following Japan)

A 44% of Korean stocks are trading below book value. FSC wants to improve this, following Japan's "name and shame" policy.

Douglas Kim

MSCI ACWI, MSCI EM Still Above Supports; Buys in Global Value - Financials and Communications

MSCI $ACWI, MSCI EM $EEM Still Above Supports at $90.50-$91.50 and $37, though being tested today. Meanwhile, broken indexes (EURO $STOXX 50,...

Vermilion Research

Supports Starting to Break; Upgrading Non-U.S. Small-Caps to Overweight; Transports/Comm/HC Buys

Support levels on global indexes (EURO STOXX 50, $ACWX, $EFA) beginning to break as $DXY and 10-year Treasury yield $TNX break above $105.70 and...

Vermilion Research

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