Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Equity Bottom-Up

Mirae Asset Securities / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we propose a pair trade between a basket of major securities stocks (long) versus banking stocks (short) in Korea.</li>
<li>We believe the five major securities stocks in Korea could continue to outperform the five major banking stocks in Korea over the next 6-12 months.</li>
<li>We present 3 major headwinds on the Korean banking sector and 4 major tailwinds on the Korean securities sector. </li>
</ul>


In this insight, we propose a pair trade between a basket of major securities stocks (long) versus banking stocks (short) in Korea.
We believe the five major securities stocks in Korea could continue to outperform the five major banking stocks in Korea over the next 6-12 months.
We present 3 major headwinds on the Korean banking sector and 4 major tailwinds on the Korean securities sector. 


A Pair Trade (Basket) Of Korean Banks Vs Securities

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.

Index Rebalance

<ul>
<li>June rebalance drops mid-May, goes live post-KOSPI 200 expiry. Back to 100 names—net outflow setup with more deletes than adds. ETFs rebalance into June 12 close.</li>
<li>KRX confirmed 10 special entries for June; results likely out in May with Value-Up rebalance. 12 protected names stay. Stocks over 10% weight, like Samsung and SK Hynix, remain.</li>
<li>Value-Up disclosure isn’t mandatory yet—rule starts June 2026. But compliant firms get a screening boost. Around 76 spots remain, filled via quant screen after excluding 24 protected names.</li>
</ul>


June rebalance drops mid-May, goes live post-KOSPI 200 expiry. Back to 100 names—net outflow setup with more deletes than adds. ETFs rebalance into June 12 close.
KRX confirmed 10 special entries for June; results likely out in May with Value-Up rebalance. 12 protected names stay. Stocks over 10% weight, like Samsung and SK Hynix, remain.
Value-Up disclosure isn’t mandatory yet—rule starts June 2026. But compliant firms get a screening boost. Around 76 spots remain, filled via quant screen after excluding 24 protected names.


June Value-Up Rebalance: Hype Fading, But Key Flags Remain

Event-Driven

Samsung Electronics Pref Shares / Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Chosun reports that some Samsung affiliates are exploring tax-free dividends at the operational level, with execs reportedly briefed on the idea.</li>
<li>Surprisingly, regulators and politicians haven't objected to tax-free dividends, which ironically align with the value-up policy. The delay in Samsung's value-up announcements may be due to this decision.</li>
<li>It’s unclear if Samsung Electronics and Life will drop tax-free dividends, but if regulators approve, they could introduce it suddenly in their value-up updates, especially with Lee Jae-yong’s cash crunch.</li>
</ul>


Chosun reports that some Samsung affiliates are exploring tax-free dividends at the operational level, with execs reportedly briefed on the idea.
Surprisingly, regulators and politicians haven't objected to tax-free dividends, which ironically align with the value-up policy. The delay in Samsung's value-up announcements may be due to this decision.
It’s unclear if Samsung Electronics and Life will drop tax-free dividends, but if regulators approve, they could introduce it suddenly in their value-up updates, especially with Lee Jae-yong’s cash crunch.


The Hot Chatter in the Local Market: Tax-Free Dividends – Is Samsung In?

<ul>
<li>On 7 March, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that it is reasonable for Korea Zinc to maintain the concentrated voting system, which should favor Chairman Choi and his allies.</li>
<li>On the other hand, the court also ruled that Korea Zinc was wrong to restrict Young Poong's voting rights which should be favorable to MBK/Young Poong alliance. </li>
<li>The fact that the court has allowed concentrated voting system would mean the M&amp;A of Korea Zinc will continue. </li>
</ul>


On 7 March, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that it is reasonable for Korea Zinc to maintain the concentrated voting system, which should favor Chairman Choi and his allies.
On the other hand, the court also ruled that Korea Zinc was wrong to restrict Young Poong's voting rights which should be favorable to MBK/Young Poong alliance. 
The fact that the court has allowed concentrated voting system would mean the M&amp;A of Korea Zinc will continue. 


M&A For Korea Zinc: Seoul Central District Court Makes Important Rulings

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 discussed last week (Feb. 27 Int'l Compass) how both ACWI-US and the S&amp;P 500 displayed false breakouts, and to look for near-term pullbacks</li>
<li>We said expect pullbacks to range supports at $116 on ACWI-US and 5770-5850 or 5600-5670 on the S&amp;P 500 in the coming weeks, where we would be buyers.</li>
<li>The S&amp;P 500 is testing the 5770-5850 range now, while ACWI-US is testing its 200-day MA at $117. It is possible ACWI-US finds support here. Upgrading Europe to overweight</li>
</ul>


We discussed last week (Feb. 27 Int'l Compass) how both ACWI-US and the S&amp;P 500 displayed false breakouts, and to look for near-term pullbacks
We said expect pullbacks to range supports at $116 on ACWI-US and 5770-5850 or 5600-5670 on the S&amp;P 500 in the coming weeks, where we would be buyers.
The S&amp;P 500 is testing the 5770-5850 range now, while ACWI-US is testing its 200-day MA at $117. It is possible ACWI-US finds support here. Upgrading Europe to overweight


Upgrading Europe to Overweight; Monitoring U.S. (S&P 500) For a Downgrade; Buy Gold Miners and More

South Korea

Meritz Financial Group Inc is a holding company of Meritz Securities, Meritz Asset Management, Meritz Financial Information Service and et cetera. The Company manages and controls its financial subsidiaries.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Meritz Financial Group (138040 KS)

A Pair Trade (Basket) Of Korean Banks Vs Securities

In this insight, we propose a pair trade between a basket of major securities stocks (long) versus banking stocks (short) in Korea.

Douglas Kim

June Value-Up Rebalance: Hype Fading, But Key Flags Remain

This post gives a quick pulse check on the June Value-up Index rebalance—hype’s cooling off, but there are still a few key things to flag.

Sanghyun Park

The Hot Chatter in the Local Market: Tax-Free Dividends – Is Samsung In?

This post takes a dive into the hot topic in the local market: tax-free dividends – Will Samsung go for tax-free dividends?

Sanghyun Park

M&A For Korea Zinc: Seoul Central District Court Makes Important Rulings

Today, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the injunction application filed by Youngpoong and MBK against Korea Zinc, requesting “allowance...

Douglas Kim

Upgrading Europe to Overweight; Monitoring U.S. (S&P 500) For a Downgrade; Buy Gold Miners and More

Upgrading Europe to Overweight; Monitoring U.S. $SPX for a Downgrade to Market Weight. $ACWI and $SPX likely bottoming here at 200-day MAs. Bullish...

Vermilion Research

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)