[INTERVIEW] Korea’s pension behemoth eyes alternative investments

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s public pension fund will keep increasing alternative investments and reduce local equities in the long term, as the behemoth’s snowballing assets will be too large for the domestic stock market, its chief investment officer has said.The National Pension Service, which manages about 524 trillion won ($450 billion) collected from 21 million Korean subscribers, is a significant client for leading asset managers around the world, who are hunting attractive real estate, i

June 14, 2016

Strong IPO pipeline for 2nd half of 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s stock market will see mega initial public offerings during the second half this year with subsidiaries of large conglomerates like Samsung and Lotte poised to fuel the IPO market.  Given that companies commonly push for public listing after posting half-year earnings in June, more deals will fill up this year’s upcoming IPO calendar, following the robust first half, thanks to the stock market that is recovering from negative sentiments.As of June 8, a total of 15 companies

June 14, 2016

Deutsche case leaves a lasting scar on Korea

[THE INVESTOR] On Nov. 11, 2010, with just 10 minutes for the stock market to close in Seoul, traders of Deutsche Bank dumped 2.4 trillion won ($2.05 billion) worth of Korean shares, triggering a 2.7 percent drop on the country’s main KOSPI index. The massive and coordinated sell-off by Deutsche employees in Hong Kong and Seoul wiped out 28 trillion won in value from Korea’s equity market, but the German bank reaped a profit of 44.9 billion won through derivative positions it had built in advanc

June 13, 2016

[EXCLUSIVE] Korean prosecutors’ inaction stalls justice for ex-Deutsche traders accused of rigging

[THE INVESTOR] Key suspects in Korea’s biggest stock price manipulation case are living a not-so-secret life in Hong Kong and Australia, while Korean prosecutors have made hardly any efforts to bring them to justice, an investigation by The Korea Herald has found.The suspects are Derek Ong and Phillip Lonergan, two of the three former Deutsche Bank employees facing criminal charges in Korea in relation to a 2010 stock rout. Local authorities have failed to extradite the three -- nationals of the

June 13, 2016

Probe evaporates W1tr from Lotte firms’ market cap

[THE INVESTOR] The combined market capitalization of the nine Lotte Group firms listed on local markets dropped by more than 1 trillion won ($851.8 million) on Monday.The drop is thought to have been driven by the expanding corruption probe centered on the members of its founding family -- Shin Kyuk-ho and his two sons Shin Dong-joo and Shin Dong-bin. At the end of the market close on Monday, nine listed Lotte Group firms’ shares dropped compared to the closing prices on Friday. (The Korea Heral

June 13, 2016

[DECODED: Mirae Asset] What's next in line at Mirae Asset?

[THE INVESTOR] Attention is now focused on who chairman Park Hyeon-joo will name as his successor at Mirae Asset Financial Group. The founder, openly critical of Korea’s large family-owned conglomerate’ father-to-son transfer of throne, has on multiple occasions said he will not pass down the group’s control to his children. 　　Local media paid keen attention, however, when Park Ha-min, Park’s eldest daughter, joined Mirae Asset Global Investments in 2013 to learn the ins and outs of real estate

June 13, 2016

[LOTTE CRISIS] Hotel Lotte withdraws IPO as embezzlement probe deepens

[THE INVESTOR] Hotel Lotte on Monday officially canceled its initial public offering scheduled for next month, as a large-scale embezzlement probe into the group and its affiliates deepened with emerging reports of confirmed wrongdoings.“We are pushing back our IPO to a later time and cancelling all remaining procedures in consideration of Lotte’s current circumstances and investor interests,” Hotel Lotte said in an emailed statement.“Listing the company is an integral part of reforming Lotte Gr

June 13, 2016

[DECODED: Mirae Asset] Park Hyeon-joo’s men 　

[THE INVESTOR] Park Hyeon-joo is recognized as the brains behind the launch of Mirae Asset, one of Korea’s first asset managers to launch mutual and real estate trust funds in the country. Park Hyeon-jooAs the founder and chairman of the firm, Park -- a graduate of Korea University in business administration -- worked his way up the corporate ladder in brokerages, and gained keen trading sensibility. But like any great entrepreneur who has changed the world, Park was not alone in his quest for f

June 13, 2016