이 기사는 2022년 04월 06일 08:05 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) is looking for a new chief investment officer as the tenure of the current CIO, Seo Won-joo, ends in May.

The application deadline is April 15. Candidate screening and interviews will follow, with a new CIO expected to be appointed by May 13.

Seo stepped into the role in 2019 for a two-year term and his term was extended by one year. Some expected his term to be extended again, but GEPS opted to find a new investment chief this time.

With Seo leaving his position, this could change the pension fund’s investment strategy. Under Seo’s term, GEPS has expanded investment in alternative assets, such as private equity and private debt, and overseas markets to enhance returns.

The pension fund gained 9.56% in 2019, the first year of Seo’s term, up from negative 2.7% in 2018. It logged 11.41% and 9.7% returns in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Its alternative investments returned 19.37%, the highest among asset classes, followed by equities which gained 15.74%, while fixed income allocation lost 1.17%.

GEPS has reportedly been assessing an option to commit up to $150 million to three foreign private equity or private debt funds. But as Seo is set to be replaced, there could be changes to the fund’s investment plans.

With the process to hire a new CIO underway, the timeline for the fund’s selection of asset managers for alternative investments is also expected to be confirmed later than previous years. (Reporting by Gyoung-tae Kim)