S. Korean pension fund seeks foreign investment partners: official

By Kim Young-gyo

HONG KONG, May 14 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean state pension fund is seeking to set up foreign partnerships in an effort to expand its exposure to international equities and other investments, a fund official said Friday.

South Korea's Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) "seeks foreign partners
to collaborate on asset management and training for its fund management
professionals," Kevin Kwon, chief investment officer at the fund management
division of GEPS, said in an interview with AsianInvestor, a Hong Kong-based
online news outlet.
GEPS plans to start expanding its foreign-investment portfolio in May,
particularly in emerging-market equities and commodity funds, Kwon said.
"This will be only possible by working together with reputable and capable
foreign investment companies and we will begin to look for such companies as
partners," he said.
GEPS held around US$3.5 billion in assets as of the end of 2009, and its
portfolio earned about 8.5 percent that year, according to Kwon.
The largest asset allocation was in domestic fixed income securities at 64
percent, followed by alternative investment areas, including both domestic and
global investments, with 17.7 percent. Its domestic equity investments weighed in
at around 15.6 percent.
ygkim@yna.co.kr