Korea Investment Corporation

한국투자공사 (Hanguk Tujagongsa) · South Korea · Asia · Founded 2005 · Reserve investment corporation · IFSWF full member

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Focus

Korea Investment Corporation: what it invests in

TechnologyReal estateInfrastructure and utilitiesRenewables and climateHealthcare and life sciencesFinancial services

Public equitiesFixed incomePrivate equityReal estateInfrastructureHedge funds and absolute return

Geography Global

Scale

Korea Investment Corporation: how big it is, and on what basis

USD 232.0B

Assets under managementAs of 2025-12-31

In US dollars: about USD 232.0B. Fund publishes USD

2025 return 13.91%

Transparency

Korea Investment Corporation: what it publishes

8.5 of 10 Band 5 of 5

Published 7 · Partly 3 · Not published 0

Our 10 item score. It measures what is public, not how well a fund is run.

Assets under managementS4: USD 232.0B (end 2025); As of 2025-12-31
2025 returnS4: 13.91%; As of 2025-12-31
10-year returnS4: 7.07% a year; As of 2025-12-31
Alternatives shareS4: 21.9%; As of 2025-12-31
Countries investedS6: 70 (39 currencies); As of 2025-12-31
StaffS5: 353; As of 2026-05
Transparency scoreS4: 8.5 of 10; As of 2025-12-31

At a glance. KIC is South Korea's sovereign wealth fund. It invests foreign exchange assets entrusted by the finance ministry and the Bank of Korea, entirely abroad, across 70 countries and 39 currencies. Assets were USD 232.0B (about KRW 333 trillion) at end 2025, split 78.1 percent traditional and 21.9 percent alternatives, and the fund returned 13.91 percent in 2025. S4 S6 S3

Key points

Ten-year annualised return of 7.07 percent and five-year of 5.21 percent to end 2025. S4
Cumulative net gains of USD 122.4B passed the USD 118.6B of entrusted principal for the first time at end 2025. S7
Region split at end 2025: North America 62.29 percent, Europe 21.86 percent, Asia 13.13 percent. S6
About USD 74.58B sat with external managers in August 2025, of which USD 1.16B with seven Korean managers. S8
Adopting a Total Portfolio Approach, with a pilot since late 2025 and formal use targeted for 2027. S9 S7
The government plans a separate strategic account of about KRW 20 trillion of state stakes to start in 2027, subject to a KIC Act amendment. S10
353 staff, including 174 investment professionals, at December 2025. S5

Interesting facts

KIC started in 2005 with USD 1B and passed USD 200B in 2021, by its own count. S1 S4
A London office building bought for GBP 75M in 2012 was sold for GBP 107M in 2019. S1
Its private equity book has returned 12.87 percent a year over ten years, the best of its asset classes. S11

Mandate and goals

Preserve and grow the international purchasing power of sovereign assets with returns above inflation, and help develop the Korean finance industry. S3

Earn returns above inflation on entrusted foreign exchange assets. S3
Support the growth of Korea's domestic finance industry. S3
Since 2024, back Korean companies abroad through a strategic investment office as co-investor. S12
Invest responsibly, a duty written into the KIC Act in March 2021. S13
Return target: Absolute return objective at total fund level since 2019; class benchmarks such as MSCI ACWI ex Korea plus 2 percent for private equity S7 S11

How it invests

Industries	Technology, Real estate, Infrastructure and utilities, Renewables and climate, Healthcare and life sciences, Financial services. Sector agnostic S11 S1
Asset classes	Public equities, Fixed income, Private equity, Real estate, Infrastructure, Hedge funds and absolute return, Private credit S4
Stages	Public markets, Buyout, Growth, Venture, Real estate, Infrastructure, Credit S11 S16
Geography	Global. Invests abroad only, across 70 countries and 39 currencies S6
Direct / through funds / co-invest	Yes / Yes / Yes S16 S11
Ticket size	No standard ticket. The 2026 domestic PE mandates set USD 200M per manager with a USD 50M cap per portfolio company S17 S14
Deal sizes seen	EUR 150M (BC Partners fund, 2017) to USD 2B (Merrill Lynch, 2008)
External managers	About USD 74.58B with external managers in August 2025; used in every asset class S8 S16
Co-investment programme	Strategic Investment Office co-invests alongside Korean companies abroad; also co-invests with peers such as Ontario Teachers' and Brookfield S12 S17

Asset mix: Equities 41.6%, Fixed income 32.8%, Private equity 7.6%, Real estate 5.0%, Infrastructure 4.5%, Other traditional 3.7%, Hedge funds 2.6%, Private debt 2.0% (as of 2025-12-31) S4

Largest country weights: North America 62.29%, Europe 21.86%, Asia 13.13%, Other regions 2.72% S6

Published criteria

Managers judged on track record, assets under management and size of investment team. S8
ESG capability checked through questionnaires and due diligence, alongside risk controls and compliance. S13
Domestic PE mandates required at least four portfolio companies with no more than USD 50M in each. S17

Fund commitments

Manager	Fund	Amount	Year
IMM Investment	Domestic PE mandate	USD 200M	2026 S17
Dominus Investment	Domestic PE mandate	USD 200M	2026 S17
BC Partners	Buyout fund, with NPS	EUR 150M	2017 S1

Past investments

Year	Investment	Type	Sector	Stage	Amount	Stake
2026	IMM Investment and Dominus Investment mandates. First domestic PE commitments, USD 200M each. S17	Fund commitment	Multi-sector	Buyout	USD 400M
2026	CBC Group biotech R&D platform. First strategic investment, into a global biotech research platform. S14	Co-investment	Healthcare and life sciences	Growth	USD 150M
2025	Connect Central Sydney. With Ontario Teachers' and Gateway Capital; deal reported at 330 million in local currency. S1	Co-investment	Real estate	Real estate	Not published
2022	Golub Capital. Minority stake under 5 percent in the private credit manager. S1	Direct investment	Financial services	Growth	Not published
2019	London office building (sale). Sold after buying for GBP 75M in 2012. S1	Sale or exit	Real estate	Real estate	GBP 107M
2019	Amazon logistics centres. Logistics properties leased to Amazon. S1	Direct investment	Real estate	Real estate	EUR 400M
2017	BC Partners buyout fund. Part of a EUR 350M commitment with NPS. S1	Fund commitment	Multi-sector	Buyout	EUR 150M
2016	Potsdamer Platz. Took an 18 percent stake in the Berlin complex. S1	Co-investment	Real estate	Real estate	USD 1.41B (deal)	18%
2016	Ritz-Carlton New York. 49 percent stake with Westbrook. S1	Co-investment	Tourism and hospitality	Real estate	Not published	49%
2015	InterContinental Hong Kong. Hotel bought by a consortium. S1	Co-investment	Tourism and hospitality	Real estate	USD 938M (consortium)
2012	London office building. Office block purchase. S1	Direct investment	Real estate	Real estate	GBP 75M
2008	Merrill Lynch. Part of a USD 6.6B capital raise; shares later became Bank of America stock. S1	Co-investment	Financial services	Public markets	USD 2B

Case studies

First home-market mandate S17

What: KIC committed USD 200M each to IMM Investment and Dominus Investment.
When: May 2026
Size: USD 400M
Why: Supports the mandate to develop the Korean finance industry.
Outcome: Caps of USD 50M per company and at least four companies per fund.

First strategic investment S14

What: USD 150M into a global biotech R&D platform with CBC Group.
When: March 2026
Size: USD 150M
Why: The CEO said it opens paths for Korean companies into global markets.

A London office round trip S1

What: KIC bought a London office block and later sold it.
When: 2012 to 2019
Size: GBP 75M bought, GBP 107M sold
Why: Early direct real estate after the alternatives team began in 2009.
Outcome: Sold for GBP 107M in January 2019.

Investment process

A nine-member Steering Committee sets policy: six private members named by the President for two years plus the finance minister, the Bank of Korea governor and the CEO. The CEO leads the Board of Directors; Article 35 of the KIC Act protects investment independence. S5 S1

Committee	Role
Steering Committee	Top policy body; chair Sungil Cho S5
Investment Subcommittee	Investment policy; chaired by Samyoung Chung S5
Risk Management and Audit Subcommittee	Risk and audit oversight; chaired by JaeJun Han S5
Asset Allocation Forum	Quarterly allocation review since 2019 S7

Steering Committee approves policy and the benchmark set for each class. S5 S11
Asset Allocation Forum reviews allocation each quarter, moving to a Total Portfolio Approach. S7
Asset class teams in Seoul and five overseas offices source managers, funds and co-investments. S12 S6
Domestic mandates go through an investment review committee. S12

How to approach: Managers and GPs approach the asset class teams in Seoul or the New York, London, Singapore, San Francisco and Mumbai offices. Korean companies doing overseas M&A can approach the Strategic Investment Office. S12

Size and returns

Headline size: USD 232.0B (Assets under management, as of 2025-12-31) S4
In US dollars: about USD 232.0B. Fund publishes USD
In won, end 2025: About KRW 333T (Assets under management, as of 2025-12-31) S4
Management statement, September 2026: More than USD 240B (Published estimate, as of 2026-09-10) S9
Return, 2025: 13.91 percent (gross; 13.77 percent net of fees) S4
Return, 5 years to 2025: 5.21 percent a year S4
Return, 10 years to 2025: 7.07 percent a year S4
Staff: 353 employees including 174 investment professionals, December 2025 S5
Size over time (USD billion): 2021 205.0, 2022 169.3, 2023 189.4, 2024 206.5, 2025 232.0 S4

Leadership

Name	Title	Since
Il Young Park	Chairman and CEO S5 S18	2024-09
Hoon Lee	Chief Investment Officer S5	Not published
Jaehyun Joo	Chief Risk Officer S5	Not published
Sangmin Lee	Chief Operating Officer S5	Not published
Chongsoo Lee	Statutory Auditor S5	Not published
Sungil Cho	Chair, Steering Committee S5	Not published
Samyoung Chung	Steering Committee; chair, Investment Subcommittee S5	Not published
JaeJun Han	Steering Committee; chair, Risk Management and Audit Subcommittee S5	Not published
Youngwoo Park	Steering Committee member S5	Not published
Jeongjae Park	Steering Committee member S5	Not published
Seunghoon Lee	Steering Committee member S5	Not published

Governance and transparency

Legal basis: Korea Investment Corporation Act of 2005; amended in March 2021 to add responsible investment S1 S13
Oversight: Reports to the National Assembly and faces its annual audit; discloses through the ALIO public institution system S15
Auditor: External auditor chosen by the Statutory Auditor, using international auditing standards S15
Santiago Principles: Full IFSWF member; stewardship follows the Santiago Principles and KIC Stewardship Principles of 2018 S13 S3
The CEO is appointed by the President on the finance minister's recommendation after review by the CEO Recommendation Committee and the Steering Committee. S5
Votes its direct holdings itself since 2023; PRI signatory since 2022. S13 S1
A 2026 plan would expand private Steering Committee seats from six to nine and add a board and committees for the strategic account. S10

Transparency score: 8.5 of 10 (band 5 of 5). Our own 10-item rubric; see the methodology page.

Published: total assets, annual return, long-term returns, asset allocation, geographic or sector split, governance and mandate documents, named leadership. S4 S5 S6
Partly published: holdings or deal list, audited financial statements, regular reporting schedule. S14 S15

History

Date	Event
2005-07-01	KIC established. S1
2008	USD 2B Merrill Lynch investment. S1
2009-09	Private equity programme launched. S1
2010-07	New York office opens. S6
2011-12	London office opens. S6
2017-09	Singapore office opens. S6
2019	Absolute return framework and Asset Allocation Forum. S1
2021-03	San Francisco office; KIC Act amended for responsible investment. S6
2024-09	Mumbai office opens; Il Young Park becomes CEO. S6 S18
2026-03-23	First strategic investment, with CBC Group. S14
2026-05-27	First domestic PE commitments. S17
2026-06-30	Memorandum with KVIC on overseas growth of Korean ventures. S19
2026-07-31	Ministry of Finance plans a strategic account. S10

For family offices

KIC has no programme for private investors. It co-invests with large institutions and, through its Strategic Investment Office, alongside Korean companies abroad. S17 S12

Co-investment next to KIC in real estate and infrastructure deals led by institutional partners. S1
Korean corporates expanding abroad can seek KIC as a co-investor. S12

Reports

Annual Report 2025 (web edition): https://www.kic.kr/annual-report/2025/en/sub0101.html S4
Sustainable investment section, Annual Report 2025: https://www.kic.kr/annual-report/2025/en/sub0206.html S13

Common questions

How big is KIC?

USD 232.0B at end 2025, about KRW 333 trillion. S4

What return did KIC earn in 2025?

13.91 percent gross, or 13.77 percent net of fees. The ten-year annualised return is 7.07 percent. S4

Does KIC invest in Korea?

Its portfolio is invested abroad. In 2026 it made its first domestic PE commitments, USD 200M each to IMM Investment and Dominus Investment. S17 S6

Who runs KIC?

Il Young Park is Chairman and CEO, appointed in September 2024. Hoon Lee is Chief Investment Officer. S5

How can a manager approach KIC?

Through the asset class teams in Seoul or the five overseas offices: New York, London, Singapore, San Francisco and Mumbai. S12

China Investment Corporation China · USD 1,567B
GIC Private Limited Singapore · About USD 1.16T, estimate
SAFE Investment Company China · About USD 1T, estimate
Hong Kong Monetary Authority Exchange Fund Hong Kong SAR, China · HKD 4,463.6B
National Investment Corporation of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan · USD 3.4B
Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) Japan · JPY 293.6T

All sovereign wealth funds in Asia · All reserve investment corporations · All funds in South Korea

Sources

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