KB Asset Management Strengthens ETF and Pension Market Focus with Organizational Restructuring

Hyunseung Lee, CEO of KB Asset Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] KB Asset Management has strengthened its exchange-traded funds (ETF) and retirement pension services.

KB Asset Management reorganized its structure by dividing the ETF & Artificial Intelligence (AI) division into two separate divisions. It expanded into a Marketing Headquarters responsible for strategy and products, and a Solution Management Headquarters including AI solution management. This move aims to enhance the launch of strategic ETF products and marketing efforts.

Hong Yong-gi, Executive Director of KB Asset Management's ETF & AI division, explained, "KBSTAR ETFs offer the industry's lowest fees, making them the most suitable products for retirement pensions. We plan to actively promote these advantages to expand our ETF market share." Recently, KB Asset Management has been conducting aggressive ETF marketing activities, including outdoor advertisements at baseball stadiums and on buses, as well as online search ads.

To target the pension market, KB Asset Management has established a new Pension & Securities division by integrating three headquarters responsible for pension management: the Global Management Headquarters, OCIO Headquarters, and Bond Management Headquarters. This integration aims to strengthen management capabilities related to retirement pension operations.

Kim Young-sung, Executive Director of KB Asset Management's Pension & Securities division, stated, "With the mandatory establishment of DB-type reserve management committees and the implementation of the default option system (pre-investment designation and automatic management), the retirement pension market will grow further. In response, we will lead the retirement pension market by improving returns through operational efficiency."

Meanwhile, KB Asset Management has been managing the alternative investment division since early this year, and through this organizational restructuring, it has promoted the Overseas Investment Office to the Overseas Infrastructure Management Headquarters. Since CEO Lee Hyun-seung took office in 2017, overseas alternative investment assets under management have grown from around 700 billion KRW to approximately 6.3 trillion KRW as of 2022. Additionally, the LDI Headquarters, which has been managing affiliated company funds since 2020, has been promoted to the LDI division and plans to expand its business scope to asset management for companies without affiliated management firms in the future.

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