The National Health Insurance Service unveiled on Monday plans to commit up to 1.4 trillion won ($1.14 billion) to its first alternative investment in history as an institutional investor. It plans to select two lead partners to manage the assets for four years, officials said.

This comes as the South Korean state agency, with some 20 trillion won worth of assets under management, moves to shift away from a conservative portfolio and turn to alternative assets, ranging from real estate to infrastructure and private equities.

Eligible candidates must be asset management firms with over 3 trillion won allocated to alternative investment as of end-2019. Candidates must be a local asset manager or a foreign company having presence in Korea for at least three years.

Applications for the bidding will be accepted by April 14. NHIS seeks to choose the lead partners by late April.

The plan came months after the NHIS pledged to venture into stocks and alternative assets in July in a move to diversify its asset portfolio from bonds and deposits.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)