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Korea Scientists & Engineers Mutual Aid Association

Korea Scientists and Engineers Mutual-Aid Association (SEMA) manages 10 trillion won with 98,000 members as of November 2021. It is one of the fast-growing retirement funds in South Korea, especially with young members' new registrations. It plans to increase the investment proportion of infrastructure, real estate and pre-listed companies from the current 65% to 68%.

  • Overview
  • Private Equity
  • Private Debt
  • Real Estate
  • Infrastructure
  • Absolute Return Strategies
Current Proportion of alternative assets
70%

Alternative asset (amount)

￦7.0 tn

Total AUM (amount)

￦10.0 tn

Whether to increase proportion of alternative assets?

Increase

Hold

Decrease

Target proportion of alternative assets in 3 years
N/A

Alternative asset (amount)

N/A

Total AUM (amount)

N/A

Current proportion of overseas assets among alternative assets
N/A

Overseas asset (amount)

N/A

Alternative total (amount)

￦7 tn

Target proportion of overseas alternative assets in 3 years
N/A

Overseas asset (amount)

N/A

Alternative total (amount)

N/A

Target return from alternative investment

Total

7%

Overseas

8%

Domestic

7%

Benchmark for alternative investment? (IF ANY)
N/A
Perspective on current valuations of alternative assets
　 Highly
overvalued		 Overvalued Fairly valued Undervalued Highly
undervalued
Private Equity O O O O O
Private Debt O O O O O
Real Estate O O O O O
Infrastructure O O O O O
To which asset classes your institution needs to increase exposure the most?

(Multiple choices, up to two)

Private Equity
O
Private Debt
O
Real Estate
O
Infrastructure
O
Hedge Fund
O
Multi Asset
O
Others
O

Manager Selection

How important is each item below when selecting asset managers?

Asset under management

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

If important, minumum AUM?￦Number

Size of the fund being raised

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

If important, minimum size?￦Number

Track record (years of experience ·Execution capability ·Past performance)

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

If important, minimum size?￦Number

Risk management (Performance during 2001 bubble bust and 2008 GFC)

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Co-investment opportunity

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

GP commitment

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Transparency - Underlying asset and portfolio

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Knowledge transfer (Portfolio∙Investment∙advisory∙Training opportunity)

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Fee level

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Presence of Seoul office

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Other LPs in the fund

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Speed of capital deployment

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Deal pipeline

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Clawback clause

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O
Perspective on inhouse Korean IR at an asset management firm

Presence of Korean IR

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Service of Korean IR

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Value you expect from in-house IR (Mutiple choices)

Product
understanding
O
Influence within
the organization
O
Communication
skill
O
Think in the
shoes of LPs
O
Integrity/
trust
O
Perspective on local FoF asset manager

Presence of local FoF manager

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Quality of local FoF manager

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Value you expect from local FoF (Mutiple choices)

Product
understanding
O
Think in the
shoes of LPs
O
Communication
skill
O
Experience
in the strategy
O
Resonable fee
structure
O
Perspecitve on Placement agents

Quality of placement agent

Very important
O
important
O
Less important
O
not important
O
not at all
O

Value you expect from a placement agent (Mutiple choices)

Product
pipeline
O
Product
understanding
O
Communication
skill
O
Negotiation
skill
O
Others
(etc)
O
More questions

Currency hedge needed when investing in a fund?

Yes

No

It Depends

Able to invest in first-time fund?

Yes

No

It Depends

Able to invest in emerging market fund?

Yes

No

It Depends

How many months needed to decide on commitment?

Less than 1 M

1M ~ 2M

2M ~ 3M

More than 3M

photo

Proportion of overseas private equity among alternative assets
N/A

Overseas PE (amount)

N/A

Alternative Total (amount)

￦7.0 tn

Whether to increase overseas PE exposure

Increase

Hold

Decrease

Target proportion of overseas PE in coming 12 months
N/A

Overseas PE (amount)

N/A

Overseas alternative total (amount)

N/A

Mid-term target proportion of overseas PE
N/A
Target return from PE investment
8%
Benchmark for PE investment
N/A
Exposure by PE strategy below
　 overinvested
(need to decrease)		 as targeted
(no change needed)		 underinvested
(need to increase)
Buyout
(management participation)		 O O O
Buyout
(minority stake)		 O O O
Growth capital O O O
Distressed·Special situation·Opportunistic O O O
(FoF) Primary O O O
Secondary O O O
Co-investment O O O
Venture capital O O O
Exposure to PE by region below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
North America O O O
Europe O O O
Asia O O O
Others O O O
Exposure to PE by sector below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Industrial O O O
Consumer·Retail O O O
Tech O O O
Healthcare O O O
Financial service O O O
Business service O O O
Others O O O
Preferred way for PE investment

(Multiple choices)

Blind fund
O
Separate account
O
Joint venture
O
Direct investment
O
Co-investment
O
Listed PE
O
PIPE
O
Questions on manager selection

Number of PE funds you currently committed to

N/A

Number of PE managers you currently entrusted to

N/A

Three PE managers you invest through the most

N/A

N/A

N/A

Three PE managers you most recently entrusted to

N/A

N/A

N/A

PE investment plan in coming 12 months

one fund

two funds

three funds

four funds or more

Importance of co-investment∙Side car∙collaboration

(acquisition financing)

Very important

Important

Less important

Not important

Not at all

Proportion of overseas private debt among alternative assets
N/A

Overseas PD (amount)

N/A

Alternative Total (amount)

￦7.0 tn

Whether to increase overseas PD exposure

Increase

Hold

Decrease

Target proportion of overseas PD in coming 12 months
N/A

Overseas PD (amount)

N/A

Overseas alternative total (amount)

N/A

Mid-term target proportion of overseas PD
N/A
Target return from PD investment
N/A
Benchmark for PD investment
N/A
What value you expect PD exposure to deliver

Diversification

Stable cashflow

Fixed income substitute

Preferred way for PD investment

(Multiple choices)

Blind Fund

Separate Account

Joint Venture

Direct Investment

Exposure to PD by strategy below
　 overinvested
(need to decrease)		 as targeted
(no change needed)		 underinvested
(need to increase)
Direct lending O O O
Distressed debt O O O
Mezzanine debt O O O
Infra debt O O O
Real estate debt O O O
Special situation∙Opportunistic O O O
Senior secured O O O
Unitranche O O O
Exposure to PD by region below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
North America O O O
Europe O O O
Asia O O O
Others O O O
Questions on manager selection

Number of PD funds you currently committed to

N/A

Number of PD managers you currently entrusted to

N/A

Three PD managers you invest through the most

N/A

N/A

N/A

Three PD managers you most recently entrusted to

N/A

N/A

N/A

PD investment plan in coming 12 months

one fund

two funds

three funds

four funds or more

Importance of co-investment∙Side car∙collaboration

(acquisition financing)

Very important

Important

Less important

Not important

Not at all

Proportion of overseas ARS among alternative assets
N/A

Overseas ARS (amount)

N/A

Alternative Total (amount)

N/A

Whether to increase overseas ARS exposure

Increase

No change

Decrease

Target proportion of overseas ARS in coming 12 months
N/A

Overseas ARS (amount)

N/A

Overseas alternative total (amount)

N/A

Target return from ARS investment
N/A
Risk from ARS investment
N/A
Benchmark for ARS investment
Why do you invest in ARS?

Diversification
(Moderate Return)

Equity Substitute
(High Return)

Substitute for Fixed-income
(Stable Return)

All

Exposure by absolute return strategy below
　 overinvested
(need to decrease)		 as targeted
(no change needed)		 underinvested
(need to increase)
Equity L/S
Event-driven
Relative value
Macro
Multi-Asset
Most preferred Equity L/S strategy

Fundamental

Market Neutral

-

Sector/Region Specialist

-

Most preferred Event-driven strategy

Distressed

-

Special Situation

-

Merger Arbitrage

-

Most preferred Relative Value strategy

Fixed Income Arbitrage

-

CB Arbitrage

-

Structured Credit

-

Most preferred Macro strategy

CTA

-

Discretionary

-

Most preferred Multi-Asset strategy

Risk Parity

-

GTAA

-

Risk Premia

-

Preferred way for hedge fund allcoation (multiple choices)

FoFs

-

Multi Strategy Single Fund

-

Single Fund

-

Questions on manager selection

ARS fund investment plan in coming 12 months

one fund

two funds

three funds

four funds or more

Importance of co-investment∙Sidecar∙collaboration (acquisition financing)

　 Very important important Less important Not important Not at all
Liquidity
Reasonable Fee Level
Co-investment opportunity
Separately Managed Account
Knowledge Transfer

photo

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