KIC Discusses European Private Equity Market with Domestic Investors Entering London

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) hosted an event in London, UK, inviting Korean institutional investors and local investment experts to discuss investment opportunities in the European private equity market.

KIC announced that it held the 30th London International Finance Forum on the 24th (local time), organized by its London office. About 30 participants attended, including representatives from the Korean government and public investment institutions, as well as domestic securities, banking, and insurance companies based in London.

The keynote presentation was delivered by Xavier Robert, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Bridgepoint, an alternative investment management firm.

CIO Robert stated, "European companies are relatively undervalued compared to American companies and have lower leverage, making them attractive. In particular, the middle market in the European private equity sector tends to rely less on initial public offerings (IPOs), so it is expected to be relatively resilient in the current environment where investment exit conditions have become difficult due to high volatility."

He continued, "Looking at buyout transactions in the private equity market last year, there are more investment opportunities in the European market than in the US. While the transaction amount was higher in the US, the number of deals surpassed that of the US in Europe," he explained.

Bridgepoint was established in 1984 as the private equity investment division of National Westminster Bank in the UK and became independent in 2000. It currently manages approximately 67 billion euros across private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and other sectors.

Lee Geon-woong, head of KIC’s London office and organizer of the event, said, "This was a valuable opportunity to discuss key issues and future investment directions in the European private equity market amid high uncertainty in global affairs and financial markets. We will continue to strengthen cooperation for stable long-term investments by Korean investment institutions this year as well."

KIC has overseas branches and offices in global financial hubs (New York and San Francisco in the US, London in the UK, Singapore, and Mumbai in India), and strives to share overseas investment information and establish mutual cooperation systems with domestic public and private financial institutions operating locally.

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