[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s stock funds returned nearly 17 percent in the first half of the year as the equity market soared, a fund evaluator said on June 28.

The average return of local stock funds with net assets of 1 billion won (US$880,000) or more, excluding exchange-traded funds, came to 16.9 percent as of June 26, according to KG Zeroin.

In contrast, local bond funds returned an average 0.76 percent in the first half amid greater risk appetite across the world.

Market watchers attributed the stellar performance of the stock funds to the country‘s roaring stock market.

Despite the bull market and high returns, the stock funds suffered a net outflow of 5.2 trillion won this year on profit-taking, compared with 7.9 trillion won for all of last year.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)