US private equity giant Apollo opens Seoul office for APAC expansion

Apollo Global Management Inc., a US private equity powerhouse, said on Monday it has opened an office in Seoul to expand its business in the Asia Pacific and named Lee Jay Hyun, a former senior executive vice president at Samsung Securities Co., as head of its South Korean operations.

“Korea is a leading financial hub where we see a tremendous opportunity to serve investors and retirees across the risk-return spectrum and meet businesses’ growing demand for flexible, creative capital solutions,” Scott Kleinman, co-president of Apollo Asset Management, said in a statement.

Apollo, managing approximately $733 billion in assets as of the end of the third quarter, has provided capital and retirement solutions to assist, support and partner with institutions in Asia Pacific for more than 15 years.

The global alternative asset manager has grown its operating presence across Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Singapore since 2006.

“As we grow our franchise in Korea, we are excited to work alongside pensions, insurers and other institutions as a scaled provider of excess return,” said Apollo Partner and Head of Asia Pacific Matt Michelini.

“We expect our reach will extend across the region’s retirement ecosystem, where we also aim to deliver yield-oriented solutions to individuals and savers seeking duration-matched income products.”

South Korea is home to the National Pension Service (NPS), manager of the world’s third-largest public pension fund with about 1,140 trillion won ($818.7 billion) in assets under management as of the end of August.

Last year, the country’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) selected Apollo, Warburg Pincus and Sweden-based EQT Partners as its first managers for global buyout and growth equity portfolios.

VETERAN WITH EXPERIENCES OF 25 YEARS

Lee, Apollo partner and head of Korea, will help drive Apollo’s capital formation strategy, institutional relationships and team growth in the country.

Before joining Apollo, the investment banking industry veteran with 25 years of experience led Samsung’s integration and management of mergers and acquisitions, securities underwriting and corporate investment functions.

Prior to Samsung, Lee served as managing director and head of Korea in private equity and growth equity for Goldman Sachs. He also held roles as head of Korea investment banking for BNP Paribas, executive director of investment banking at Goldman Sachs and additional roles at JP Morgan, KPMG Korea and Korea Long Term Credit Bank.

“Apollo has an incredible platform delivering private capital and retirement solutions to clients globally and I am excited to lead their efforts on the ground in Korea,” Lee said.

In addition to Lee, Apollo appointed Chung Sam Young, head of AIF APAC and a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, as an academic advisor in Asia Pacific to apply his academic expertise to the firm’s work at the intersection of retirement solutions and alternative assets.

Write to Jong-Kwan Park at pjk@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.