Infra and RE investment heads resign from NPS

The infrastructure investment head and real estate investment head at South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), are leaving the world’s third-largest pension fund.

Kim Jee-Yeon, head of infrastructure investment, and Kim Hyun-Soo, head of real estate investment, have each tendered their resignation according to pension fund industry sources on Monday. NPS has accepted the resignations, and the official final workday for both will be the end of November, after using unused holiday time.

The two division heads, both the third-highest positions at NPS Investment Management after Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Ahn Hyo-joon and the managing director of investment strategy, responsible investment & corporate governance, reportedly decided to leave the organization following the parliamentary inspection in mid-October. An NPS official said the pension fund understands that the two heads have left for good opportunities and that NPS is considering selecting their successors in-house. The two Kims are both reportedly moving to the private sector.

The two Kims have been responsible for NPS’ alternative investments for nearly three years since being promoted to the head positions in early 2019. Kim Jee-Yeon was the first female head of an investment team in the history of NPS Investment Management.

NPS’ alternative investment had reached 98.5 trillion won ($83.6 billion), or 10.6% of its total assets under management (AUM) as of end-August. Its alternative investment side consists of several divisions including private equity & venture capital investment, led by ASK 2021 speaker Choe Hyung Don; real estate investment; and infrastructure investment. The infrastructure investment and real estate investment teams manage around 60 trillion won.

Write to Jae-fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.