A series of listings of Korean real estate investment trusts -- including ones that involve investments in foreign properties -- are adding vigor to the upbeat initial public offering scene in the local stock market. This comes as investment houses here are moving to attract stable cash streams by luring investors to their own vehicles used to buy properties at home and abroad. In the latest move, JR Asset Management on Wednesday released a prospectus for its REIT ahead of the flotation plan

Market July 8, 2020

South Korea’s cash-strapped flag carrier Korean Air Lines said Tuesday it plans to sell its inflight meal catering and duty-free units to local private equity firm Hahn & Co. “As for the divestment of inflight catering services and duty-free operations, Korean Air has given Hahn & Co. the exclusive rights to negotiate,” it said in a disclosure after a board meeting at 4 p.m. “Korean Air will continue to discuss the details about the transaction with Hahn &

Market July 7, 2020

In his first public letter in 10 years, South Korea’s value investment guru Chen Kang in March urged fund investors to remain unperturbed by the coronavirus uncertainties and search for where purchasing power would flock to in the post-coronavirus era. The investor with over 30 years of experience in stock investing added this was a way of targeting value creation even in trying times. “Investors should keep an eye on how daily life evolves, because that’s where the future of

Market July 5, 2020

Gen2 Partners, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund, has notified South Korean financial institutions of a fund freeze regardless of the deadlines for fund redemption, according to news reports Sunday. This comes as its flagship fund using a leveraged scheme suffered losses due to the coronavirus outbreak, facing a liquidity crunch. The Korean entities dedicated to pooling investor money for Gen2 Partners’ multistrategy funds include brokerage houses Shinhan Investment, Kiwoom Securities and S

Market July 5, 2020

The Financial Services Commission, South Korea‘s top financial regulator, said Thursday it would carry out an all-out inspection of all privately-pooled investment schemes in a preemptive measure to protect financial consumers from exposure to unanticipated risks. The target of the scrutiny will be 10,304 pooled funds and 233 investment houses dedicated to privately pooled funds as of the end of May. The total inspection is scheduled to be completed by September, while investment firms w

Market July 2, 2020

South Korea’s financial watchdog Financial Supervisory Service on Wednesday urged 10 financial institutions to fully compensate for investors’ losses, holding them accountable for their inadvertent decision to draw investments in the disgraced Lime Asset Management’s trade finance fund. In an unprecedented move, financial institutions -- including seven banks and three brokerage houses -- will be forced to reimburse a total of 161.1 billion won ($133.8 million) in principal of

Market July 1, 2020

Korean private equity firm JC Partners has become a preferred bidder to buy a controlling stake in KDB Life Insurance, in policy lender Korea Development Bank’s move to exit from a troubled financial institution that has strived to turn around amid restructuring. JC Partners was the sole participant in the open bidding process to sell KDB Life Insurance, whose 92.73 percent stake is jointly controlled by KDB and investment house Consus Private Equity, according to KDB on Wednesday. The bi

Market July 1, 2020

Amid the lingering business uncertainties from continued COVID-19 crisis, bond investors would be able to avert risks of companies’ default in case they have invested in secured high-yield bonds, a top Barings Asset Management official said on Tuesday. “(Secured bonds) are on top of the capital structure and tend to recover better,” said David Mihalick, head of US public fixed income at Barings, in a teleconference. “Secured bonds are attractive because of the extent th

Market June 30, 2020

South Korea’s National Pension Service said Tuesday it has selected five private equity firms as external partners to invest a combined 800 billion won ($665.28 million) in private equities. According to the world’s third-largest public pension fund, it will commit 160 billion won each to Glenwood Private Equity, Macquarie Asset Management Korea, SkyLake Investment, IMM Investment and JKL Partners. The firms will be responsible for managing funds with a 10-year maturity. Investmen

Market June 30, 2020

South Korea’s largest institutional investor National Pension Service said Monday it has inked a partnership with Germany-based Allianz to co-invest in core real estate assets worth $2.3 billion across the Asia-Pacific region as part of its alternative investment strategy. The 50:50 fund will target properties in countries such as China, Japan, Australia and Singapore, betting on core opportunities in landmark office buildings, logistics facilities and residential complexes -- or assets c

Market June 29, 2020

Deregulatory moves by financial authorities to allow South Korean conglomerates to own corporate venture capital firms have raised concerns over the manifold consequences of such a scheme. The Finance Ministry is set to unveil plans next month to revise the law so that Korean equivalents of Alphabet-backed GV -- formerly known as Google Ventures -- can be launched. The revision of the Fair Trade Act is expected to make significant changes in the history of corporate environment that has banned

Market June 28, 2020

What surprised John Lee, a former Wall Street fund manager who returned home six years ago, was the widespread perception among South Korean retail investors that real estate is a much safer option for investments than stocks, which they considered too risky. Six years on, things have changed, particularly in recent months with a massive inflow of retail investors to the local stock market, said Lee, now CEO of Seoul-based Meritz Asset Management. “They have learned lessons,” he sai

Market June 25, 2020

South Korea’s investment house Optimus Asset Management froze two more feeder funds worth a combined 29.7 billion won ($24.75 million) Wednesday, as prosecutors started to look into fraud allegations against the troubled asset manager. At the same time, Korea’s top financial regulator vowed to carry out a thorough inspection of all privately pooled funds here in a preemptive move to protect fund investors. Optimus on Wednesday notified NH Investment & Securities that the fund

Market June 24, 2020

Celltrion co-founder and Chairman Seo Jung-jin said Tuesday the biosimilar firm’s novel coronavirus vaccine development is on its way as scheduled, expressing confidence that the treatment will become marketable once clinical trials are complete. As one of some 200 drug developers in the world in the race to develop a treatment for COVID-19, Celltrion is poised to go through a human clinical trial with its drug candidate on July 16, following tests on lab animals such as hamsters and monk

Market June 23, 2020

Swedish public pension fund AP7 has added SK Holdings, a South Korean company at the apex of SK conglomerate’s governance structure, to its blacklist of companies to be excluded from its investment universe, its recent report showed Monday. SK Holdings was one of three firms added in the latest move, along with Canadian cannabinoid firm Cronos Group and Egyptian electrical company Elsewedy Electric, according to the blacklist updated as of June 15. According to the report by the institu

Market June 22, 2020