Kakao Pay joins MSCI Korea Index

Kakao Pay Corp., the mobile payment arm of South Korean tech firm Kakao Corp., has been added to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Korea Index, according to sources in the financial industry. MSCI, a global stock index calculator, included Kakao Pay in its quarterly review ending in February released on Friday.

Stocks that are incorporated into the MSCI index are selected based on their total and floating market capitalizations. Incorporation into the index is expected to attract global passive funds that track the index.

This quarter's review saw no domestic stocks excluded from the MSCI index, although the floating share ratio of POSCO Holdings Inc. slightly decreased from 90% to 85%.

Heo Yul, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities, estimated that Kakao Pay could attract passive fund purchases worth 110 billion won ($87 million), while also noting a 15.5 billion won outflow from POSCO Holdings.

The results of the index changes will be reflected in the MSCI Korea Index after the market closes on Feb. 28.

Write to Sung-Mi Shim at smshim@hankyung.com