Hyundai Motor taps ex-CPPIB private equity head Suyi Kim for board role

Hyundai Motor Co. has tapped Suyi Kim, former private equity head of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Benjamin Tan, an ex-portfolio manager of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, as outside directors.

According to Hyundai’s regulatory filing on Wednesday, the South Korean carmaker has recommended Kim as an outside director and audit committee member, with a shareholder vote scheduled for March 20 at its annual general meeting.

She is one of three new external board members up for a shareholder vote, alongside Tan, who worked at GIC as an Asia-based portfolio manager from 2004 to 2023.

The two seasoned investors are expected to leverage their experience and global network to strengthen Hyundai Motor’s financing capabilities.

Kim, 51, stepped down from CPPIB at the end of last year, wrapping up her 17-year tenure there. She joined the Canadian pension scheme in 2007 and became its Asia Pacific head in 2016.

From 2021 until her departure in 2024, she spearheaded CPPIB’s global private equity investment and led its partnership with MBK Partners, the North Asia buyout giant founded in 2005.

Before CPPIB, she worked at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, The Carlyle Group, McKinsey & Co. and PwC.

Kim earned a master's in business administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2002 and a bachelor’s in international economics from Seoul National University in 1996.

Write to Jong-Kwan Park at pjk@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.