Construction Workers taps former Credit Union head as new CIO

Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association (CWMA) has named Lee Seong-yeong as its new chief investment officer and is in the final stage of the nomination process ahead of the official announcement next week, The Korea Economic Daily understood. His term in office will be two years.

Lee worked for the National Credit Union Federation of Korea (NCUFK) for 31 years since graduating from South Korea's Chungnam National University in 1990. Most recently he served as the CIO of the federation. NCUFK, offering a wide range of banking services to individuals and businesses, manages around 14.6 trillion won ($12.2 billion) in assets.

At NCUFK he led some huge deals during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. In 2009, the federation invested 40 billion won in a term asset-backed securities loan facility (TALF), a US Federal Reserve program to spur consumer credit lending, via Korean asset manager Heungkuk Asset Management Co. NCUFK earned a 34.9% return from the investment.

Lee also led the federation’s investment in global insurer AIG headquarters in Manhattan, New York in 2009. The Korean consortium acquired the property for 240 billion won ($200 million), including 100 billion won from NCUFK. The consortium sold the building for $205 million in 2011. Additionally, he has been responsible for direct bond, future and equity investments while at the federation.

The former CIO of CWMA, Lee Wea-hwan, left the association last month as his term in office ended. He previously worked for Samsung Life Insurance Co., Samsung Asset Management Co. and Hanwha General Insurance Co. He moved to head up the Customer Solution Division at IBK Securities Co. of Korea in January. 

Founded in 1997, CWMA manages 4.2 trillion won in assets. It allocates 26% of its AUM to alternative investments, 60% to bonds and 8% to equities.

Write to Jong-woo Kim at jongwoo@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.