The National Pension Service, the world’s third-largest pension fund, will pull the plug on coal-related investments, according to a plan approved on Friday by its investment management committee. Under the plan, NPS will no longer finance any new projects that involve building coal-fired power plants. It will also come up with an action plan to implement negative screening in order to exclude investment targets associated with climate change. The plan is to support a low-carbon ecosyste

Market May 28, 2021

South Korean private equity firm Hahn & Co. is poised to buy a controlling  52.6 percent stake in Namyang Dairy Products which has been under public criticism for claiming that its yogurt drink helps prevent COVID-19, a filing showed Thursday. Namyang Dairy’s board has agreed to sell 378,938 common shares, owned by ex-chairman Hong Won-sik, his wife and his grandson, to the country’s second-largest private equity firm for 310.7 billion won ($278.2 million), according to th

Market May 27, 2021

Leveraged cryptocurrency trading by individuals in South Korea threatens the nation’s financial system, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Thursday. Given the price volatility of virtual assets, increased trading in such assets leaves Korea’s financial system subject to instability, Lee said in a press conference after a monetary policy committee meeting. “An excessive level of leveraged cryptocurrency trading puts households at risk of financial damages considering the in

Economy May 27, 2021

South Korea is brimming with long-term investment opportunities as sustainability-driven innovations crystalize in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a high-ranking official of public pension scheme Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said Wednesday. The pandemic has not only changed the way people live, but also prompted a technology-led transformation across the Asia-Pacific region, said Suyi Kim, head of Asia Pacific at CPP Investments during a virtual conference hosted by the Seoul-base

Market May 26, 2021

Educational technology startup Riiid has snapped up $175 million in fresh funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 to accelerate global entry of its artificial intelligence-based personalized learning experience and assessment program, the company announced Tuesday. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 was the sole investor in the latest series D round, bringing Riiid’s total funds raised to $250 million. Riiid did not disclose its post-money valuation. The deal was made 10 months after its pre-series D rou

Market May 25, 2021

South Korea‘s stock bourse will add eight new actively managed exchange traded funds that partially employ active stock picking in addition to tracking listed equities starting on Tuesday. The Korea Exchange on Friday approved the listing of the eight actively managed equity ETFs on the Kospi board, in addition to the three existing products launched in 2020, in what is regarded as the fledging market of active ETFs. Korea is home to ETFs with a combined value of 60 trillion won ($53.2 bi

Market May 24, 2021

Concerns about electronic device shipments due to a global semiconductor component shortage is leaving retail stock investors unnerved as their net purchases of Samsung Electronics common shares worth 22.6 trillion won ($20 billion) so far this year appears to have barely yielded returns. Foreign investors, on the other hand, are fleeing South Korea‘s largest handset producer and semiconductor manufacturer. Samsung Electronics has been the most heavily sold stock by foreign investors yea

Market May 23, 2021

Asset management firm Hyundai Investments on Thursday announced the closure of a new, 490 billion-won ($433 million) private fund dedicated to South Korea-focused acquisition financing for private equity clients. The fresh fund, closed on Tuesday, is a second installment of its kind to invest in senior debt, following a 230 billion-won fund created in February 2020. The first installment was fully invested a year after the fund close, financing private equity acquisitions of clients such as Mac

Market May 20, 2021

South Korean institutional investors were seen betting big on the banking sector and semiconductor firms in the United States during the first quarter, filings showed Wednesday. The National Pension Service, the world’s third-largest pension fund, has amassed holdings in US financial services firms such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, according to a filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The NPS, which bought 113,080 additional shares of JPMor

Market May 19, 2021

South Korean institutional investors are looking to increase their exposure to foreign alternative assets and diversify in terms of asset classes and destinations. This comes as more institutional investors here are venturing into asset classes that could stimulate post-pandemic recovery and a sustainable future, in their bid to achieve medium-risk, long-term investing through illiquid assets, according to a note to investors by KTB Investment & Securities on Wednesday. For example, the N

Market May 19, 2021

Sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corp. said Tuesday that Jin Seung-ho, the former presidential adviser for balanced national development, had started his three-year term as its chief executive officer. Jin is the eighth CEO of South Korea’s only sovereign wealth fund, overseeing $183.1 billion worth of dollar-denominated assets entrusted by the Bank of Korea and the Finance Ministry as of 2020. He succeeded Choi Hee-nam, whose three-year term started in 2018. In an inaugural speech

Market May 18, 2021

South Korean institutional investor Military Mutual Aid Association has named Lee Sang-hee, former top investor at Lotte Non-Life Insurance, as its new chief investment officer, the firm said Monday. Lee’s three-year term will start on Thursday, according to the institutional investor who manages 12.7 trillion won ($11.18 billion) in assets as of 2020. He will be responsible for overseeing 5 trillion-won worth of financial assets at MMAA -- including equities, fixed-income and alternative

Market May 17, 2021

South Korean investors have relied on core assets overseas, such as fully-tenanted commercial buildings in prime locations, but market changes and a low-interest environment across the globe mean that it’s time to change tack from such risk-averse approaches, an expert said. “Safe bets are no longer safe but expensive and scarce. Price competition is intensifying surrounding core assets because they are seeing a higher demand at home and abroad,” said Kim Jong-min, head of ove

Market May 17, 2021

Seoul-based KB Asset Management said Monday it has fetched a total of 1 trillion won ($882.1 million) for infrastructure debt exposure in developed countries under a fund-of-funds scheme with Australia-based AMP Capital. The third-largest firm in Korea by the assets under management has raised a recent undisclosed amount of additional commitment from institutional clients for the private debt fund, reaching the milestone five years after it signed a memorandum of understanding with AMP Capital

Market May 17, 2021

South Korea’s buyout fund VIG Partners said Friday it had taken over a 100 percent stake in Seoul-based hair & body care product maker The Skin Factory, known for its flagship brand Kundal, for roughly over 150 billion won ($132.7 million). VIG Partners, overseeing 3.8 trillion won in assets, said it had named Roh Hyun-jun, senior director of overseas and export business at personal care manufacturer Yuhan-Kimberly, as the portfolio company’s new chief executive officer. The S

Market May 14, 2021