Hanwha chief touts bigger global footing of asset management unit

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn on Tuesday visited Hanwha Asset Management to praise the asset management unit's recent progress in its ongoing efforts for global expansion.

He was accompanied by Kim Dong-won, president and chief global officer at Hanwha Life Insurance, and Hanwha Asset Management CEO Kim Jong-ho.

“Despite unfavorable market conditions, Hanwha Asset Management has overcome challenges and pushed innovations, and emerged as Korea’s leading asset management company, managing over 100 trillion won ($73 billion) in assets,” Kim was quoted as saying during the visit. “The company is also operating local subsidiaries in the US and Singapore, moving forward as a global asset management company.”

Hanwha Asset Management is increasing its presence in the global market by forging partnerships with over 50 financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, KKR and Temasek, across North America, Europe and Asia. Its US subsidiary, with offices based in San Francisco and New York, is deepening its penetration into advanced financial markets while its Singapore subsidiary serves as a key hub for scaling up operations in the Asian market.

Last year, the US subsidiary launched a local alternative investment fund. It is also making efforts to ramp up its direct investment business there by hiring 10 finance investment specialists, in addition to the company’s expatriates sent from the Seoul headquarters.

“Let’s advance our capabilities in conventional financial assets such as stocks and bonds, as well as in alternative investments,” noted Kim. “We should prepare for another leap in the burgeoning private equity, venture capital, ETF and pension sectors to inspire our investors.”

The alternative investment division of Hanwha Asset Management, encompassing private equity and venture capital, infrastructure and real estate, has surpassed 20 trillion won in managed assets as of September this year. In particular, the private equity and venture capital division was selected as the operator of the Green Infrastructure Export Support Fund by the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corp.

In the ETF sector, the Plus K-Defense ETF, launched last year, achieved the highest return in the domestic ETF market this year, largely driven by Korean defense companies’ export deals. Following success at home, Hanwha Asset Management plans to list the ETF on the New York Stock Exchange.

Kim added, “In this fiercely competitive market, your passion and commitment already make you the ‘great challengers’ representing Hanwha. Only when the entire Hanwha family, including the newly appointed CEO (Kim Jong-ho), move forward together, will the opportunities ahead of us lead to a bright future.”

Earlier in April, Kim visited Hanwha Group’s key subsidiaries – Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Robotics – to boost the morale of employees.