NPS names CIO’s ex-colleague as global alternative head

Jae-Sang Kim, who had worked with National Pension Service’s (NPS) Chief Investment Officer Myoun-Wook Kang in asset management firms for several years, was appointed on May 24 to lead the global alternative investment division of the $500 billion pension fund.

NPS also named its domestic equity head, In-Sik Cho, as head of global public market. Cho will be succeeded by Jun-Kyu Che who led the research team of the domestic equity division in the past four years.

The appointments were made to fill the vacancies in the two executive posts of the NPS after Sang-Hyun Yoo and Kyung-Jik Lee, then the heads of global alternative and public market, quit in February.

Their resignation came just before the Investment Management’s head office moved to a provincial city, about 200 km south of Seoul.

The incoming global alternative head Kim, a former alternative investment head of South Korea’s Meritz Asset Management Co. Ltd., has a very similar work career to Kang’s.

Both worked for Meritz Asset between 2010 and 2014, as well as ABN AMRO Asset Management between 2005 and 2008. At ABN AMRO, Kang headed the South Korean office, while Kim worked in Hong Kong.

At Meritz, Kim briefly served as acting CEO in 2013 shortly after Kang stepped down as the chief executive to work as an advisor.

They also had worked for Schroders and BNP Paribas's units, as well as formerly Hyundai Investment Trust. It was not immediately known if they also had overlapping periods in those companies.

After quitting Meritz in 2015, Kim worked for a real estate investment firm, according to a source familiar with him.

He holds an MBA of the University of Texas at Austin and studied at the University of Maryland, College Park, according to his Facebook profile.

Global alternative head Kim is the first executive from outside in six years for the NPS’ Investment Management department, after the world’s third-largest pension scheme suffered heavy talent outflows ahead of the office relocation.

By Hugh YH Jeong

hugh@hankyung.com