Korea's Military Mutual Aid Association starts search for new CIO

South Korea’s Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA), which managed 10.4 trillion won ($7.7 billion) in assets as of the end of 2023, said on Monday it is looking for a new chief investment officer (CIO) for the financial investment division.

The new CIO will be responsible for investment strategies for mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt. The chief will take office in May, subject to approval by the fund’s board and Korea’s defense minister.

The CIO should have at least 15 years of experience in one or more of the areas such as financial investment, research, investment strategy and risk management, as well as at least two years of experience as an executive in financial investment. The new chief’s term of office is three years, with a possibility of a consecutive one-year term.

Lee Sang-hee, the current financial investment CIO, who took office in May 2021, is eligible to serve another three-year term. But it might not be easy for Lee to be elected again under the leadership of board chair Jung Jae-kwan, who took the position in January 2023.

MMAA has two separate CIOs for financial and real asset investment units. The chief of the financial investment division represents the retirement fund’s overall investment strategy.

The real asset CIO is Kim Yong-seok. He became the construction division chief in August 2023, overseeing real estate and infrastructure investment.

The retirement fund for military personnel posted a total return of 10.9%, collecting 858.7 billion won profit from investment last year.

The fund allocates 8 trillion won to alternative investment among its 10.4 trillion won in assets under management (AUM) as of end-2023. Some 46% of the alternative assets are in overseas markets. The fund aims to increase alternative asset exposure to 77% of AUM by the end of 2026.

Write to Byeong-Hwa Ryu at hwahwa@hankyung.com
 



Jihyun Kim edited this article.