Stocks to Invest In and Not to Invest In for Value Investing Are 'These' / KOSDAQ, Supply and Demand Alone Cannot Resolve Undervaluation

Summary

Lee Chae-won, Chairman of Life Asset Management, explains value investing in an inflationary era, advocating a replacement-cost and low-multiple (PBR) framework. He sees Korean market multiples normalizing due to legal reforms, making cheap stocks rise, and names securities, holding companies, and semiconductors as beneficiaries. He dismisses KOSDAQ as unattractive given its 27x PER despite policy measures, and recommends a small gold allocation strictly as tail-risk insurance rather than a return play, while emphasizing stock-picking over index moves and emotional discipline.

• Inflation makes replacement cost a critical value gauge, favoring asset-heavy incumbents over latecomers.
• Korean market multiples are normalizing after commercial law amendments; cheapness alone can now drive stocks higher.
• The financial sector, especially securities stocks with sub-5 PER, remains undervalued and attractive.
• Select undervalued holding companies offer bottom-up opportunities in the current stock-picking environment.
• Semiconductor names like Samsung Electronics benefit from increasingly rational global valuation comparisons.
• KOSDAQ’s 27x PER makes it unappealing; supply-side policies cannot fix its structural undervaluation—a premium identity overhaul is needed.
• Gold is useful only as a 5% tail-risk hedge; it is not a return-seeking investment.
• Investors should stay disciplined, lower urgency, and buy when fear peaks rather than chase rallies.