NPS fills one of many vacancies with new CIO appointment

Hyo-Joon Ahn, former president of BNK Financial Group, a Seoul-based financial services provider, has joined the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS) as its new chief investment officer, to oversee its global investment activities, the head of the media team at the Korean pension fund confirmed to sister publication Private Debt Investor today.

PDI previously reported the stream of resignations among senior investment officers at the pension fund, including that of former CIO Kang Myeon-wook, who resigned in July 2017, as well as that of In-Sik Cho, head of NPS’ offshore securities division, who had been serving as acting CIO and stepped down this past July.

Ahn previously headed NPS’s investment strategy team in 2011 and also led its domestic equity investment team. Ahn’s CIO term lasts for two years, starting today, with an option to extend for a further year, the spokesperson confirmed.

Asked if there are any updates on other vacancies in the pension fund’s investment management team, the media team head told PDI that new CIO, Ahn, will be overseeing the recruiting process.

During his 18-year career in the asset management and financial services industry, Ahn has served as chief executive officer at Kyobo AXA Investment Managers, a joint venture between Korean insurer, Kyobo Life Insurance, and French insurer AXA’s investment arm, AXA Investment Management.

Prior to his time at NPS between 2011 and 2013, he was with BEA Union Investment Management as a senior portfolio manager. He also spent two years at ANZ Fund Management.

NPS has disclosed that it managed 643.4 trillion won ($567 billion; €493.4 billion) in investible assets as of end-July. The pension fund had invested 10.9 percent of its investment portfolio, or 69.8 trillion won, in alternatives, up by 3 trillion won from 66.8 trillion won at the end of 2017.