The amount of foreign securities held by major South Korean institutions grew from a year earlier in the second quarter due mainly to a surge in South Korean investment in foreign bonds, central bank data showed Friday.

As of the end of June, the value of foreign securities held by South Korea's institutional investors came to $148.6 billion, compared with $111.94 billion from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea.

Quarter-on-quarter, the value of foreign securities held by South Korea's institutional investors rose 8.8 percent, it said.

The increase largely stemmed from a $9.15 billion spike in outstanding overseas bonds held by local institutions over the cited period, reaching $68.29 billion as of end-June, while the amount of foreign stocks held by South Korean institutions gained $530 million to $42.57 billion.

Foreign securities include overseas stocks and bonds as well as Korean papers and foreign currency-denominated securities issued by the local government, banks and companies in overseas markets.

Investment in Korean papers by local institutions gained $2.35 billion to $37.73 billion over the cited period.

By investor, foreign securities held by local asset management firms came to $66.07 billion, up $2.2 billion from the previous quarter, with those held by local securities companies growing $420 million to $9.97 billion.

Foreign securities held by local insurance firms grew by the largest margin of $6.5 billion to $56.23 billion. (Yonhap)