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KB Life Insurance

KB Life Insurance is a life insurer of KB Financial Group. It manages 25.9 trillion won in assets as of end-2022, including 3.2 trillion won in alternative investments. The firm is set to increase the proportion of alternative assets to 15% of its AUM by end-2025, focusing on private equity and debt. It targes 6% of return from alternative investments.

  • Overview
  • Private Equity
  • Private Debt
  • Real Estate
  • Infrastructure
  • Absolute Return Strategies
Current proportion of alternative assets
12%

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Total AUM

￦ 25.9 tn

Whether to increase proportion of alternative assets

Increase

Hold

Decrease

Target proportion of alternative assets in 3 years
15%

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Total AUM

￦ 27.7 tn

Current proportion of overseas assets among alternative assets
44%

Overseas asset (amount)

￦ 1.4 tn

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Target proportion of overseas alternative assets in 3 years
60%

Overseas asset (amount)

N/A

Alternative asset

N/A

Target return from alternative investment

Total

6%

Overseas

7%

Domestic

5%

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?N/A

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?N/A

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?N/A

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 Korean 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 in-house 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 Korean IR (Multiple 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 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

Proportion of overseas private equity among alternative assets
1.6%

Overseas PE (amount)

￦ 50 bn

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Whether to increase overseas PE exposure

Increase

Hold

Decrease

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

Overseas PE (amount)

￦ 100 bn

Alternative asset

N/A

Mid-term target proportion of overseas PE
8%
Target return from PE investment
20%
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 commit to

2

Number of PE managers you currently entrust to

2

Three PE managers you invest through the most

Ardian

StepStone

N/A

Three PE managers you most recently entrust to

Ardian

StepStone

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
9%

Overseas PD (amount)

￦ 284 bn

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Whether to increase overseas PD exposure

Increase

Hold

Decrease

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

Overseas PD (amount)

￦ 320 bn

Alternative asset

N/A

Mid-term target proportion of overseas PD
10%
Target return from PD investment
6%
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 choice)

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 commit to

16

Number of PD managers you currently entrust to

13

Three PD managers you invest through the most

ICG

Ares

MCF

Three PD managers you most recently entrust to

HSBC

MBO

Pantheon

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 real estate among alternative assets
14.1%

Overseas RE (amount)

￦ 445 bn

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Whether to increase overseas RE exposure

Increase

No change

Decrease

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

Overseas RE (amount)

￦ 450 bn

Overseas alternative asset

N/A

Mid-term target proportion of overseas RE
18%
Target return from RE investment
5%
Benchmark for RE investment
N/A
Exposure to RE by strategy below
　 overinvested
(need to decrease)		 as targeted
(no change needed)		 underinvested
(need to increase)
Core O O O
Core+ O O O
Value-add O O O
Opportunistic∙
Distressed		 O O O
Development O O O
Secondary O O O
Exposure to RE by property type
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Office O O O
Hotel O O O
Residential O O O
Retail O O O
Industrial O O O
Logistics O O O
Multifamily O O O
Mixed use O O O
Others
(i.e senior housing, data center)		 O O O
Exposure to RE by tranche below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Senior secured loan O O O
Mezzanine O O O
Subordinate O O O
Equity O O O
Exposure to RE by region below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Global O O O
North America O O O
Europe O O O
Asia O O O
OECD O O O
All O O O
Preferred way for RE investment

(multiple choice)

Direct investment

Joint venture

Separate account

Closed-end fund

Open-end fund

Questions on manager selection

Number of RE funds you currently commit to

24

Number of RE managers you currently entrust to

18

Three RE managers you invest through the most

PGIM

BGO

Rockwood

Three RE managers you most recently entrust to

PGIM

BGO

Bridge Investment

RE 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

Proportion of overseas infrastructure among alternative assets
18%

Overseas Infra (amount)

￦ 570 bn

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Whether to increase overseas infra exposure

Increase

No change

Decrease

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

Overseas Infra (amount)

￦ 580 bn

Overseas alternative asset

N/A

Target return from infrastructure investment
5%
Benchmark for infrastructure investment
N/A
Exposure to infrastructure by strategy below
　 overinvested
(need to decrease)		 as targeted
(no change needed)		 underinvested
(need to increase)
Core O O O
Core+ O O O
Value-add O O O
Opportunistic O O O
Exposure to infrastructure by sector below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Renewable energy
(water∙wind∙solar)		 O O O
Traditional energy
(Upstream∙Midstream∙Downstream)		 O O O
Real asset
(Aviation∙Ship∙Train) 		O O O
Transportation
(Port∙Airport∙Railroad∙Toll road)		 O O O
Utilities
(power grid∙water & sewage∙telecom)		 O O O
Power plant O O O
PPP O O O
Others O O O
Exposure to infrastructure by tranche below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Primary O O O
Debt/Mezzanine O O O
Fund of funds O O O
Secondaries O O O
Project fund O O O
Exposure to infrastructure by region below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Global O O O
North America O O O
Europe O O O
Asia O O O
OECD O O O
All O O O
Exposure to infrastructure by strategy below
　 overinvested as targeted underinvested
Greenfield O O O
Brownfield O O O
Secondary stage O O O
Questions on manager selection

Number of infrastructure funds you currently commit to

16

Number of infrastructure managers you currently entrust to

12

Three infrastructure managers you invest through the most

Ares

Ardian

Macquarie

Three infrastructure managers you most recently entrust to

Ares

Ardian

Macquarie

Infrastructure 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

Proportion of overseas ARS among alternative assets
3.2%

Overseas ARS (amount)

￦ 100 bn

Alternative asset

￦ 3.2 tn

Whether to increase overseas ARS exposure

Increase

No change

Decrease

Target proportion of overseas ARS in coming 12 months
0%

Overseas ARS (amount)

￦ 0

Overseas alternative asset

N/A

Target return from ARS investment
N/A
Risk from ARS investment
N/A
Benchmark for ARS investment
N/A
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 O O O
Event-driven O O O
Relative value O O O
Macro O O O
Multi-Asset O O O
Most preferred Equity L/S strategy

Fundamental

-

Market Neutral

-

Sector/Region Specialist

-

Most preferred Event-driven strategy

Distressed

O

Special Situation

-

Merger Arbitrage

-

Most preferred Relative Value strategy

Fixed Income Arbitrage

-

CB Arbitrage

-

Structured Credit

O

Most preferred Macro strategy

CTA

O

Discretionary

-

Most preferred Multi-Asset strategy

Risk Parity

O

GTAA

-

Risk Premia

-

Preferred way for hedge fund allocation (multiple choices)

FoFs

O

Multi Strategy Single Fund

O

Single Fund

-

Questions on manager selection

ARS fund investement 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 O O O O O
Reasonable Fee Level O O O O O
Co-investment opportunity O O O O O
Separately Managed Account O O O O O
Knowledge Transfer O O O O O