The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Tuesday that it would provide $30 million to fund the purchase of 34,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers by the nation’s top shipper, HMM Co. The state-run lender will provide the senior debt, while Multi Asset Global Investment, an alternative investment fund operator under financial giant Mirae Asset Financial Group, will manage subordinated debt funds worth $10 million. Mirae Asset Securities, the key brokerage unit of Mirae Asset Financial G

Sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corp. said Tuesday that Jin Seung-ho, the former presidential adviser for balanced national development, had started his three-year term as its chief executive officer. Jin is the eighth CEO of South Korea’s only sovereign wealth fund, overseeing $183.1 billion worth of dollar-denominated assets entrusted by the Bank of Korea and the Finance Ministry as of 2020. He succeeded Choi Hee-nam, whose three-year term started in 2018. In an inaugural speech

KakaoBank, South Korea’s biggest online bank, saw more than a 150 percent growth in its first-quarter net profit due to an increase in interest income and transaction fees, the firm said Monday. Its net profit stood at 46.7 billion won ($41.1 million) in the first quarter, up 152.4 percent from 18.5 billion won from the same period last year, according to the banking unit of mobile giant Kakao. The company’s profit from transfer fees turned around from a net loss of 3.1 billion w

South Korean investors have relied on core assets overseas, such as fully-tenanted commercial buildings in prime locations, but market changes and a low-interest environment across the globe mean that it’s time to change tack from such risk-averse approaches, an expert said. “Safe bets are no longer safe but expensive and scarce. Price competition is intensifying surrounding core assets because they are seeing a higher demand at home and abroad,” said Kim Jong-min, head of ove

Seoul-based KB Asset Management said Monday it has fetched a total of 1 trillion won ($882.1 million) for infrastructure debt exposure in developed countries under a fund-of-funds scheme with Australia-based AMP Capital. The third-largest firm in Korea by the assets under management has raised a recent undisclosed amount of additional commitment from institutional clients for the private debt fund, reaching the milestone five years after it signed a memorandum of understanding with AMP Capital

Responding to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s middle-income households turned out to have reduced private spending more sharply than those in the upper and bottom income brackets, state-run think tank Korea Development Institute said Monday.  The nation’s middle class, which generally refers to households belonged to the third highest income quintile that earn 40 percent to 60 percent of the median income, saw its consumption expenditures shrink 6

South Korea’s buyout fund VIG Partners said Friday it had taken over a 100 percent stake in Seoul-based hair & body care product maker The Skin Factory, known for its flagship brand Kundal, for roughly over 150 billion won ($132.7 million). VIG Partners, overseeing 3.8 trillion won in assets, said it had named Roh Hyun-jun, senior director of overseas and export business at personal care manufacturer Yuhan-Kimberly, as the portfolio company’s new chief executive officer. The S

Koramco REITs & Trust said Friday its real estate investment trust has closed its acquisition of a cold chain logistics warehouse tenanted by Nasdaq-listed e-commerce giant Coupang for roughly 360 billion won ($318.5 million) in the western port city of Incheon. The deal marks the biggest single logistics asset to be purchased by a REIT in the country by transaction size so far, the real estate investing subsidiary of clothing firm LF said. The warehouse, TJ Logistics Center, is a seven-s

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Real estate investors searching for deals in South Korea were seen shifting their attention away from the capital city of Seoul in the first quarter of 2021 as demand for logistics assets rose, data showed Thursday. Commercial property deals that closed in Seoul during the first quarter with tickets of over $10 million added up to $2.2 billion, down 25.8 percent on-year, while investment in other parts of Korea rose 3 percent to $2.6 billion, according to data from New York-based capital marke

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South Korea’s Woori Financial Group said Wednesday that it was donating $100,000 to India to help the country win its battle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Joining forces with the Community Chest of Korea, the financial conglomerate will offer the donation to the United Way, a nonprofit organization. The donation will be used to procure medical supplies, including oxygen ventilators, build temporary hospitals, and provide food and daily necessities for communities in India. Woori Fina

Kakaobank, the country’s second internet-only bank, has cut interest rates for mid-range credit holders, the lender said on Wednesday, in the latest attempt to provide better services to customers with thin credit files. The banking arm of mobile giant Kakao said it has slashed rates by up to 1.2 percentage points for mid-range credit holders. The bank also expanded a loan limit from 50 million won ($44,518) to 70 million won for them while halving the limit for high creditors to 50 mil

Cross-industry partnerships in the financial sector are in full swing as banks seek to transform personal data into a new revenue source, ditching their reliance on interest rates. Commercial lenders and credit card companies have been rushing to forge alliances with mobile carriers and retailers to compile large volumes of customer data from business partners in order to provide personalized products and to fuel data-driven marketing activities. The heating competition is ignited by the gove

Along with Myanmar’s military coup, banks’ overseas expansion faces yet another major hurdle in India