Felt Coffee introduces minimalism to Korean coffee shops

Two years ago, a new coffee shop appeared in Gwanghwamun, one of the busiest office districts in Seoul, redirecting the daily traffic of businesspeo...

Studio Dragon sets sights overseas, $3.4 bn market cap possible: analyst

South Korea’s leading drama producer Studio Dragon Corp. is expected to post handsome earnings in coming years, boosted by a steady stream of jo...

Korea’s major companies’ Q2 overseas sales drop 20% due to pandemic

South Korea’s top 100 companies saw their overseas sales shrink by a fifth in the second quarter from the year-earlier period, weighed by the fa...

Korean ESS companies ramp up overseas business eyeing 40% revenue hikes

South Korean tech heavyweights Samsung SDI Co. and LG Chem Ltd. are expected to expand their market share as they secure hefty energy storage system (...

South Korea moves in on overseas coal project financing ban

South Korea's parliament looks set to pass new legislation to ban financing on foreign coal power projects, putting all overseas coal-fired plant deal...

NPS creates active management team for overseas traditional assets

The National Pension Service will set up teams in its overseas offices to directly handle active investments in traditional assets such as equiti...

IPO of Korea’s first overseas property-backed REIT receives tepid response

The initial public offering of JR Global REIT, set to be South Korea’s first listed REIT backed by overseas property, was undersubscribed 0.23 t...

Yellow Umbrella Mutual commits $540 mn to overseas debt funds

Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund, a savings arm for South Korea’s small-sized business owners, has committed $540 million to overseas debt funds ...

NPS to double proportion of overseas fixed-income investment by 2024

The National Pension Service (NPS) will more than double the proportion of overseas fixed-income investment to around 10% by the end of 2024 by when g...

Blackstone to buy stake in Korea’s largest shopping mall

The Blackstone Group has agreed to buy a 31.85% stake in South Korea’s largest shopping mall from the US developer Taubman Centers Inc. which is selli...

[ASK 2018 SUMMIT] NPS to boost direct alternative investment via overseas offices: CEO

The National Pension Service (NPS) will improve the role of its overseas offices in New York, London and Singapore to increase direct investment in al...

Korea scientists’ fund in push for co-investments in overseas assets: report

Korea Scientists and Engineers Mutual-aid Association (SEMA) will commit about 20 billion won ($18 million) to a fund of Morgan Stanley Energy Partner...

Teachers’ Pension announces new overseas alternative investment head

The Korea Teachers’ Pension on April 24 named its domestic alternative investment head Young-sin Jeong as new head of overseas alternative investments...

[Interview] Hana Asset bets on retail demand for overseas real estate

The asset management unit of South Korea’s Hana Financial Group is preparing to launch two new public funds investing in overseas real estate, betting...

Korea's POBA in screening overseas PEF managers to commit $300 mn

The Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) is screening investment proposals from overseas private equity fund managers to entrust a combined $30...

Korea to ease capital reserve rules for insurers’ overseas infrastructure assets

South Korea’s top financial regulator will cut reserve requirements by half for insurance firms’ cross-border infrastructure assets from as early as J...

NPS’ 2016 overseas alternative investment return drops to 12.34%

Overseas alternative investments remained the best-performing segment for South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) for the third consecutive year ...

[Interview] Mirae Asset Life eyes US power plants, buildings to boost overseas investment

(This is the first in a series of interviews with CIOs of South Korea’s leading insurance companies in 2017.) Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co. Ltd., ...

NPS to empower overseas offices to speed up cross-border deals

The National Pension Service (NPS) has announced a plan to give its foreign offices more authority so that they can propose investment ideas directly ...

[RFP] Korea Post seeks 3 management firms for overseas CLO investment

Korea Post’s savings unit announced a request for proposal on August 17 to select three asset management houses that will be in charge of setting up s...

Korea’s public pension funds to explore joint overseas, alternative investment – fin ministry

South Korea’s public pension funds, including the National Pension Service (NPS) and pension schemes for government officials and military personnel, ...

[Korean Money Going Abroad] Korea insurers up overseas investments, eyeing foreign asset managers

South Korean insurance companies have been raising investments in overseas investments by more than 50% since the start of this year and also consider...

Mirae Asset-led funds on buying spree of overseas property, including Amazon HQ building in Seattle

A consortium of South Korean institutional investors, led by Mirae Asset Global Investments, has recently closed a deal worth about $245 million to bu...

[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...

[Interview] KIC CEO says seeks 10% returns from overseas project financing

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, may take part in project financing of overseas construction orders secu...

[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 overseas PDF managers for up to $300 mln commitment

- On May 26, Korea Post says plans to commit about $100 mln to 1 to 3 funds, respectively - Investment to be focused in North America or Europe thr...

[Editor's Note] Korean investors gearing up to boost overseas alternative assets

“Only free lunch in finance is diversification.”Korean institutional investors, who have seen their assets under management (AUM) snowball...

Global PEFs in bidding for GEPS’ $100 million overseas secondary fund investment

- GEPS to make 2nd commitment to global secondary PEF since 2014; investment size to triple - To pick 2 GPs by mid-June to commit $50 million, resp...

NPS to boost overseas equities by 2021; trimming portion of domestic portfolios

- Overseas portfolios seen to climb to over 35% by 2021 vs. 24.3% at end-2015 - Domestic portfolios seen to drop to 65% or below vs. 75.7% at end-2...