Korea Investment Corporation: Investment in crypto-related stocks comes from index tracking, not direct cryptocurrency strategies
ChainCatcher news, according to the Pioneer Economy, Korea's largest institutional investor, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), recently clarified to the National Assembly that its investments in U.S. crypto-related stocks such as Coinbase and MicroStrategy are not intended to directly engage in virtual assets, but are part of its benchmark index tracking strategy.In the materials submitted to the National Assembly's Finance Committee, KIC stated that these investments are a result of following its benchmark index MSCI ACWI ex Korea (non-hedged version). Coinbase was included in the index in December 2021, while MicroStrategy was added in June 2024. KIC emphasized that the scale of its investments in these companies is generally consistent with their weights in the index.This clarification from KIC comes in response to questions from the National Assembly regarding whether public funds are indirectly investing in cryptocurrencies. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 13F filings, in the second quarter of 2024, KIC and the National Pension Service of Korea purchased 21,000 and 245,000 shares of MicroStrategy, respectively. Additionally, KIC has been investing in Coinbase since the fourth quarter of 2021, holding a total of 50,400 shares.
