Mirae Asset, KIS engage in possible tit-for-tat over investment rating downgrades

Korea’s two largest brokerage houses — Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) — are engaged in an apparent tit-for-tat by downgrading ratings for each other’s stocks in their analyst reports early this week. The move is fueling speculation over whether the companies may be using the reports as a tool to attract investors away from each other, especially at a time when the stock market is rallying under the new government’s investor-friendly policies. On Wednesday, KIS lowered its investment outlook for Mirae Asset Securities from “Buy” to “Neutral” on the benchmark KOPSI in an analyst report on investment worthiness. The revised assessment came after Mirae Asset Securities downgraded its own rating for KIS, also a KOPSI-listed company, from “buy” to “neutral” in its report, Monday. According to market observers, a “neutral” rating is often regarded as being effectively equivalent to a “Sell.” “In that sense, a neutral-rated stock is perceived as having little merit as an investment,” an executive of an advocate group for retailWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times