Queensland Investment Corp., an Australian state fund, is looking to increase its exposure to Korean capital in burgeoning infrastructure investment, according to its chief Kylie Rampa.

Rampa heads QIC, one of Australia's largest institutional investment managers with nearly $80 billion in assets under management. QIC operates both as a limited partner and a general partner with approximately 50 percent of the total assets under management coming from clients other than the Queensland government.

Rampa recently visited Korea to meet with clients here as part of efforts to expand QIC's role as a general partner. Having had Korean capital partners in the first $1.8 billion infrastructure fund, QIC is nearing the close of its second flagship infrastructure fund, targeting $3 billion.

“There is strong support from Korean capital for our infrastructure business and fund. Because we are now raising capital for that fund we would look to increase exposure hopefully to Korean capital,” Rampa told The Korea Herald in a recent interview in central Seoul.

Though Rampa could not disclose the details of QIC's clients, such as their name or size, reports show Korean pension funds and Middle Eastern sovereign funds have indicated interest in participating.

QIC's partnership with Korean capital goes beyond Australian soil, Rampa said.

For instance, earlier this year local brokerage house Korean Investment & Securities partnered with QIC to fund private infrastructure debt for a wholly owned subsidiary of Porter Aviation Holdings. The funding will enable the development of the first commercial aviation terminal at Montreal Metropolitan Airport in Canada.

“That demonstrated the QIC's ability to originate attractive opportunities, which are attractive to Korean capital,” Rampa said.

Moving back to Australian soil, another area of interest for Korean capital is real assets. Korean institutional investors, including the state-run National Pension Service and private managers such as Mirae Asset Global Investments and NH Investment & Securities, have proactively invested in commercial real estate opportunities in Australia, including office, retail properties and usage rights of a port.

“Korean capital has been very active in the real estate sector generally in Australia over the years,” Rampa said.

Though QIC’s portfolio in Korea as a limited partner could not be shared, the sovereign fund does not have any investments in Korean assets or companies as a general partner. It does not have a definite plan to invest in the country as well.

“Our relationship and focus on Korea has been capital partnering and we have not physically invested here (as a general partner). We would never say ‘never,’ but we have to play to our strengths in where we think we have a comparative advantage,” she said.

Yet, Rampa stressed there is room for growth in terms of capital partnership.

“Australia is a very good investment location for capital out of Asia because of our geopolitical stability and economy. It is a very institutional market from an investment perspective, so high degrees of transparency and governance are very attractive,” she said.

“Korean investors have a very good understanding of the Australian markets and it just seems a very natural relationship for us to foster and further develop.”