Cosmetics is S.Korea's new smart choice

Models present a South Korean brand of cosmetics at a promo event in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [File Photo / IC]

Seo Jae-hyeong said he has started wearing skin foundation and facial masks at night.

It is not about looking younger, the 49-year-old head of Daishin Asset Management Co said. Seo is trying to get first-hand insight into one of South Korea's hottest stock-market bets－the cosmetics industry.

Led by Amorepacific Corp and LG Household & Health Care Ltd, makers of Korean beauty products are surging more than 100 times faster than the broader market and prompting the nation's male-dominated investment world to rethink how it covers the sector.

Shinhan Investment Corp, part of the country's largest financial group by market value, has deployed two analysts from its industrial team to focus on beauty research.

The Korean unit of Daiwa Securities Co hired a woman to initiate coverage of the industry last month, while Daishin Asset started a "female generation" fund in March in part to tap into growing prospects for the beauty sector.

"When I called a 'buy' for Amorepacific years ago, some people laughed at me," said Daishin's Seo, who oversees more than $4 billion in Seoul.

"The stock jumped nearly 10-fold and look what had happened to the old, traditional industries."

The nation's cosmetics sector is booming as the rising spending power of Asian consumers－particularly those from China－leads to an influx of tourists eager to mimic the look of South Korea's pop stars and on-screen celebrities.

The industry's rise is helping the $1.4 trillion economy weather a downturn in the manufacturing and shipbuilding industries that were once the nation's biggest source of growth.

Nine cosmetic companies on the Kospi index, including Hankook Cosmetics Manufacturing Co and Korea Kolmar Holdings Co, have surged an average 311 percent in the past 12 months, compared with a 2.9 percent advance by the broader gauge.