Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global more than doubled the value of its South Korean stock holdings in the first half, lifting the market to fourth place in the fund’s country-by-country equity allocation. Norges Bank Investment Management said the fund’s South Korean physical equities rose 106% to $57.0 billion at end-June from $27.6 billion at the end of last year, while the number of South Korean companies held increased to 421 from 411. Much of the increase came from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose combined valuation climbed to $40.1 billion from $14.16 billion even though the fund did not add shares in either company and slightly reduced its ownership stakes. NBIM said semiconductor stocks, including Nvidia, TSMC, Intel, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, were key drivers of returns. Across the whole portfolio, the sovereign wealth fund, with assets under management approaching $2.4 trillion, generated a 9.4% first-half return and a record half-year net profit of $184.9 billion. South Korea’s overall exposure, including physical equities, cash and derivatives (contracts tied to asset prices), reached 4.1%, behind only the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. The fund’s stock picking within South Korea shifted sharply, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics surging to the fourth-largest Korean holding after its stake rose to 1.28% from 0.23%, while the fund fully exited LIG Nex1 and made broad portfolio changes across additions, removals and stake adjustments.