That sovereign upgrade, driven by the strength of Korea’s solid economy, ushered in a transition stage that still sees Korean issuers, especially top rated ones such as Sovereign, Supranational and Agency issuers (SSAs), being able to tap investors from both the developed and emerging markets portfolios. For example, Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) allocated around 5% of its US dollar bond issue in early 2012 to governments and central banks, but that had grown to around 35% in 2016, a