Jin Seung-ho, KIC President: "Aiming to be a Top 10 Sovereign Wealth Fund... Supporting the Training of Domestic Global Financial Experts"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] Jin Seung-ho, President of Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), expressed his ambition to "make KIC one of the world's top 10 sovereign wealth funds." Along with expanding the application of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles, he also unveiled plans to contribute to the development of the domestic financial industry by fostering global financial professionals through the establishment of an International Finance Academy.

At a press conference held on the 1st at KIC headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, President Jin emphasized, "We aim to secure an asset management scale that can compete on equal footing with major sovereign wealth funds worldwide," adding, "We will review the policy weights of current asset classes and enhance returns through proactive long-term and diversified investments."

Founded in 2005, KIC celebrated its 16th anniversary on this day. As of the end of last year, KIC's assets under management reached $183.1 billion (approximately 207 trillion KRW). Since starting with $1 billion (about 1 trillion KRW) in assets under management in 2006, the scale has grown more than 200 times over 15 years. It is expected that the assets under management will soon surpass $200 billion (approximately 227 trillion KRW).

President Jin introduced four major development strategies for KIC to become one of the world's top 10 sovereign wealth funds. These four strategies are △leap to the world's top 10 sovereign wealth funds △expansion of alternative investments △strengthening responsible investment △and expanding support for the development of the domestic financial industry.

He stressed, "We will actively respond to the changing investment environment after the COVID-19 pandemic by strengthening investment expertise based on future technologies and enhancing overseas local-focused investments to proactively respond to changes in the global financial market." To this end, KIC plans to actively expand the proportion of alternative investments. The plan is to gradually increase the share of alternative investments to improve the overall portfolio efficiency by enhancing long-term expected returns and diversifying risks. The alternative investment ratio, which stood at around 16% as of May this year, is planned to be raised to 21% by 2024. By 2027, the alternative investment ratio will be expanded to 25%.

President Jin stated, "We will gradually increase the proportion of alternative investments to improve long-term returns and diversify risks, thereby enhancing the overall portfolio efficiency," adding, "We will actively promote future technology investments based on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as expanding venture and technology investments in the western North American region centered on the San Francisco office opened this year."

He also indicated the expansion of ESG application. KIC will continuously refine the ESG integration system that considers ESG factors throughout the investment decision-making process for all entrusted assets, and plans to diversify ESG investment strategies and expand ESG fund investments.

He suggested that KIC will play a leading role in the development of the domestic financial industry as a sovereign wealth fund. President Jin believes that KIC must strengthen responsible investment in line with its status and responsibilities as a sovereign wealth fund and serve as a leading partner in the domestic financial industry by demonstrating overseas investment leadership. To contribute to the development of the financial industry, KIC also plans to focus on nurturing global financial professionals through the establishment of the 'International Finance Academy.'

President Jin said, "KIC has so far adopted ethical and transparent management as its basic management principles and has worked to raise the ethical awareness of all employees," adding, "We will continue to manage assets transparently with honesty and sincerity based on the heavy responsibility of increasing national wealth."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.