Key Takeaways
- • South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) is moving forward with plans to shift several billion dollars in real-estate mandates away from IGIS Asset Management Co., according to KED Global, citing the fund's warning over "damaged trust" tied to governance concerns during IGIS' management control.
- • NPS will hold one-on-one interviews with seven asset managers next week to decide how the reallocated mandates will be distributed.
- • The NPS move comes amid a broader crisis around IGIS, including a complaint filed by Heungkuk Life Insurance with police over the planned sale process and reports that NPS moved to withdraw all of its committed money from IGIS-managed funds.
- • Hillhouse Investment Management has been named preferred buyer of IGIS in a deal valued at $750 million, though the pending NPS withdrawal risks reducing IGIS' assets under management and could force a reassessment of its valuation.
Summary
South Korea's state-run National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third-largest pension fund, is proceeding with plans to move several billion dollars of real-estate mandates away from IGIS Asset Management Co., South Korea's largest real estate asset manager, according to KED Global. The move signals that the NPS intends to act on its earlier warning over "damaged trust" arising from governance concerns that emerged during IGIS' management control.
The NPS will conduct one-on-one interviews with seven asset managers next week to decide how the reallocated assets will be distributed, according to the publisher's coverage. The pension fund has also reportedly moved to withdraw all of its money committed to IGIS-managed funds, a step that has thrown the sale process into disarray.
The pressure on IGIS has intensified on several fronts. Heungkuk Life Insurance has filed a complaint with police against senior figures involved in the planned sale of IGIS, escalating what the publication describes as a fast-deepening crisis. Separately, South Korea's financial watchdog is reported to be pressing the NPS to weigh a role in naming financial firms' directors as part of a regulatory governance overhaul.
On the transaction side, Singapore-headquartered Hillhouse Investment Management has been named preferred buyer of IGIS in a deal valued at $750 million, after a late $682 million bid that competed with offers from Hanwha and Heungkuk. Publisher context indicates that a withdrawal by the NPS would sharply reduce IGIS' assets under management, forcing a reassessment of the firm's valuation and potentially disrupting the ownership sale.
The NPS will conduct one-on-one interviews with seven asset managers next week to decide how the reallocated assets will be distributed, according to the publisher's coverage. The pension fund has also reportedly moved to withdraw all of its money committed to IGIS-managed funds, a step that has thrown the sale process into disarray.
The pressure on IGIS has intensified on several fronts. Heungkuk Life Insurance has filed a complaint with police against senior figures involved in the planned sale of IGIS, escalating what the publication describes as a fast-deepening crisis. Separately, South Korea's financial watchdog is reported to be pressing the NPS to weigh a role in naming financial firms' directors as part of a regulatory governance overhaul.
On the transaction side, Singapore-headquartered Hillhouse Investment Management has been named preferred buyer of IGIS in a deal valued at $750 million, after a late $682 million bid that competed with offers from Hanwha and Heungkuk. Publisher context indicates that a withdrawal by the NPS would sharply reduce IGIS' assets under management, forcing a reassessment of the firm's valuation and potentially disrupting the ownership sale.
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