이 기사는 2021년 10월 08일 07시34분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) is considering issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to award additional funds for its alternative investments abroad.

The pension fund is considering awarding a private equity or private debt mandate totaling up to $150 million to three managers, industry sources said on Wednesday, though details have not been finalized yet. It appears that the RFP could be issued as early as before the end of this year.

The move is part of the South Korean investor’s efforts to boost alternative investments abroad. GEPS under chief investment officer Seo Won-joo has been stepping up efforts to diversify its alternative asset portfolio, especially in the global market, for higher returns.

GEPS in 2019 awarded a total of $100 million to HarbourVest Partners and Lexington Partners, the US investment firms that specialize in buying secondhand stakes in private equity funds. This was the pension scheme’s third investment in secondary funds after it awarded mandates for the strategy in 2014 and 2016.

Earlier this year GEPS selected Goldman Sachs, Macquarie and Ardian to give infrastructure mandates totaling $115 million. The tender process to select infrastructure fund managers attracted strong interest, with more than 10 proposals received from global investment firms.

GEPS had more than 8.2 trillion won ($7 billion) in assets under management at the end of 2020, with exposure to alternative investments accounting for approximately 22%. It intends to gradually increase its allocation to alternative assets to 33% by 2025.

“GEPS plans to invest more in alternative assets through various ways such as co-investments and also continue to try to enhance internal capabilities,” an industry source said. (Reporting by Gyoung-tae Kim)