Korean household credit risk nears record-high

Korea's household credit risk hit the second-highest record for the upcoming third quarter, driven by impacts of the global pandemic wh...

Doosan Infracore issues $300 mn dollar bonds amid corporate restructuring

 Doosan Infracore Co. Ltd., a Korean machinery manufacturer, has successfully issued dollar-denominated bonds worth $300 million despit...

Shinsegae International acquires a 100% stake in high-end cosmetics brand Swiss Perfection

 Korean fashion and beauty business Shinsegae International Co., Ltd has acquired a 100% stake in Swiss Perfection, a high-end cosmetics brand ba...

Export-Import Bank of Korea ups Aussie bond sale size to $460 mn on demand

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has nearly doubled the size of its planned new bond sale in Australia to A$700 million ($460 million) on stron...

Foreign investors’ holding of South Korean bonds at record high of $115 bn

Foreign investors continued to buy South Korean bonds such as treasuries and monetary stabilization bonds for a fourth consecutive month in April, wit...

Pension funds eye bargains in equities and bonds; alternatives on hold

A number of South Korean pension funds are looking to hunt for bargains in the battered equity and bond markets, while postponing investment in infras...

NPS’ investment return at all-time high in 2019; alternatives lag

The National Pension Service (NPS) achieved its strongest investment return of 11.31% in 2019, led by hefty gains from equities and overseas fixed-inc...

NPS' 2019 investment return at 10-yr high on equities, fixed incomes

The National Pension Service (NPS) reported a preliminary 11% return on investments in 2019, its best annual result in a decade, supported by double-d...

Mirae Asset plans $500 mn bond issue; invests in HK office debt

Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. Ltd. plans to raise more than $500 million in a global bond issuance early next month to fund its global investments, after ann...

Denver office buildings draw yield-hungry Korean funds

A consortium of Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. and Hyundai Asset Management Co. Ltd. has recently closed a $238 million acquisition of an office t...

NPS’ 2017 investment return at 7-yr high; to wrap up CIO selection in April

The National Pension Service (NPS) chalked up an average investment return of 7.26% in 2017, which was its strongest performance in seven years, while...

Meritz Real Estate underwrites $53 mn debt on luxury high rise in Manhattan

Meritz Real Estate Asset Management Co. Ltd. has underwritten five-year senior debt of 57.5 billion won ($53 million) secured on a super-luxury, 131-s...

[ASK 2017 SUMMIT] KIC CIO shrugs off high valuation talk; seeks new approach

Korea Investment Corporation’s (KIC) Chief Investment Officer Shinwoo Kang said the sovereign wealth fund is seeking transformative ideas to make them...

Korean investors may own half of UK high-speed railway after UK firms’ resale

After the National Pension Service (NPS) agreed to buy a 30% stake in Britain’s High Speed 1 (HS1) for around 400 billion won ($355 million) in July, ...

NPS to buy stake in UK high-speed railway for $350 mn in InfraRed-led investment

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) is expected to invest around 400 billion won ($353 million) in acquiring a 30% stake in Britain’s High Sp...

KIC picks $400 mn global bond managers among firms with Korean subsidiaries

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has introduced new requirements to foreign bond managers that they have South Korean subsidiaries which will not be...

ILS funds of funds attract Korean high net-worth individuals

Funds of funds (FoFs) investing in insurance-linked securities (ILS) funds have been luring yield-hungry wealthy South Koreans, with domestic brokerag...

Korea public officials' fund sees $200 mn allocation to cat bonds, private debt funds in H2

South Korea’s Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) is most likely to select global asset managers to invest about $200 million on aggregate in ...

Korea public officials’ fund picks $40 mn cat bond managers

Three private equity firms – LGT Capital Management, Leadenhall Capital Partners and Nephila Capital – have been chosen as the preferred managers of t...

Korean public officials’ fund to invest $40 mn in cat bonds

The Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA), a savings fund for South Korean public officials, will select about two management firms to commit $4...

Korea civil servants’ pension fund picks local firms for global stock, bond mandates

South Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) has selected Daishin Asset Management and Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management as general pa...

ABCP issues backed by Chinese bank deposits seen to top corporate bond sales in Korea

South Korean pension and savings funds are piling into short-term notes backed by time deposits at Chinese banks, lured by higher deposit rates from C...

[RFP] Korea’s GEPS seeks $170 mn fund of funds managers of global stocks, bonds

South Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) posted a notification on July 1 to invite bids for a 100 billion won ($87 million) mandate f...

[Interview] Korea firemen’s fund eyes overseas structured bonds, office buildings in advanced markets

Korea Fire Officials Credit Union, managing $520 million in assets, will boost its exposure to structured bonds and alternative assets in developed ma...

[Editor's Note] ASK 2016 Summit helps open korean investor's eyes to cat bonds

It was February, 2013 when Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer surprised Silicon Valley and business world by forbidding Yahoo staff from working remotely from ho...

POBA CIO says studying catastrophe bond investment for about $25 million

South Korea’s Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) is considering investing about $17 million to $25 million in catastrophe bonds, also known a...

[RFP] Korea Post seeks overseas fixed-income managers for emerging sovereign bond fund

- On June 1, 2016, Korea Post’s insurance asset management bureau posts a request for proposal to invest in dollar-denominated sovereign bonds of emer...

[RFP] Korea Post seeks fixed-income managers for U.S. corporate bond investment

- Proposal submission due by June 7, 2016; final selection set for July 2016 - To pick 2 firms for publicly-offered funds with minimum $300 mln AUM...

high-yield bonds

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S.Korea sells $1.3 bn forex bonds at lowest spread

The South Korean government $1.3 billion at the lowest spread...