Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Bridge institution to assume liabilities of scandal-ridden Lime funds
South Korea is looking to launch a bridge institution to take over all the assets, as well as the liabilities, of the scandal-ridden hedge fund Lime Asset Management and ensure that its end-investors can retrieve their investments as planned. A group of 20 financial institutions -- involved in selling hedge funds of Lime -- named Kang Min-ho, former chief risk officer of Hanwha Investment & Securities for a two-year term -- as head of the new bridge institution with 5 billion won ($4.2 mill
Market Aug. 2, 2020
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VCs mull exit plans as market recovers from pandemic impact
South Korea’s venture capital houses are actively seeking exit plans from their startup investments as promising firms are gearing up for initial public offerings following the stock market recovery, according to market watchers Thursday. One of the VCs that already did so was Company K Partners, which cashed out part of its investment in Wipam, the nation’s only power amplifier module manufacturer for smartphones, through a July IPO before making its market debut Friday. The value
Market July 30, 2020
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Mastern cheers health care workers
Mastern Investment Management said Thursday it has sent a message of support from its staff to health care professionals, health authorities and citizens in the battle against the novel coronavirus. Employees of the South Korean real estate investment house, including CEO Kim Dae-hyeong, took part in a campaign at its headquarters to express gratitude to those at the forefront of the strenuous battle. “I was delighted to participate in such a meaningful campaign and contribute to overco
Market July 30, 2020
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[Herald Interview] Digital forensics to play bigger role in Korean companies’ foreign litigation
The dominance of digital devices in the work environment has led to significant changes in global litigation involving corporate disputes. The massive amounts of intangible data have increasingly emerged as key evidence of business misconduct that is becoming more and more sophisticated. A high-profile case in the US this year was a true testament to the trend. Electronic discovery conducted by the US International Trade Commission led to a preliminary ruling -- by default -- in favor of plai
Market July 27, 2020
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REIT IPOs elicit lukewarm response from retail investors
The initial public offerings of South Korean real estate investment trusts are drawing lackluster response from retail investors before their listing on the local stock market, estimates showed Sunday. The latest was the undersubscription of the stock offering to individual investors, when JR Asset Management’s REIT was going public on the main bourse Kospi to invest in Finance Tower Complex in Brussels, Belgium. REITs are companies designed to generate returns for investors in the for
Market July 26, 2020
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Samsung Asset delays merger with hedge fund arm
Samsung Asset Management disclosed Sunday it has put a merger plan with its wholly owned hedge fund subsidiary on hold. The Seoul-based asset manager that oversees 26.9 trillion won ($22.3 billion) assets -- largest in South Korea -- added it would make an announcement once the date of merger is rescheduled. The deal was initially set to be closed by Aug. 1, following regulatory approval. The news comes amid intensifying scrutiny by authorities of Korean privately pooled funds -- private equ
Market July 26, 2020
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IGIS drops Gangnam apartment renovation plan amid backlash
IGIS Asset Management said Thursday it has canceled a plan to renovate an apartment building in Gangnam, an affluent southern district of Seoul, it acquired in April. The nation’s largest commercial property investor added it would liquidate the privately pooled fund that was created to invest in the redevelopment project, immediately after it sells the residential building. The asset management company purchased Samsung World Tower from an individual for 42 billion won ($35 mil
Market July 23, 2020
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Watchdog accuses Optimus hedge fund of alleged fraud, embezzlement
The nation’s financial watchdog said Thursday its probe revealed that scandal-ridden hedge fund Optimus Asset Management faked the fund portfolio to its investors, misappropriated their money and obstructed the authorities’ investigation. “Optimus misguided fund investors to pool their money, which led to fraudulent transactions,” Financial Supervisory Service Deputy Governor Kim Dong-hoe, who is in charge of financial investment services supervision, said in a briefing
Market July 23, 2020
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Local PEF zeroes in on Mr. Pizza acquisition
TR Investment has been given exclusive rights to negotiate with shareholders of MP Group, the operator of pizza restaurant chain Mr. Pizza, to buy a 41.39 percent stake for 35 billion won ($29.19 million), a disclosure showed Thursday. Under the binding memorandum of understanding, the South Korean private equity firm has agreed to buy 10 million existing shares of MP Group -- which operates pizza restaurants and coffeehouse chain -- from its current major shareholders including founder and e
Market July 23, 2020
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'Korean investors’ growing interest in US tech stocks risky'
Persisting economic uncertainties due to the coronavirus outbreak appear to have only made blue chip tech stocks in the United States more expensive, while growing retail investors’ appetite for US stocks on global monetary expansion have left them prone to risks, said a strategist at global asset management firm AllianceBernstein. “On the issue of COVID-19 risk, we would just very simply say why bet on things that we don’t know?” David Wong, a senior investment strateg
Market July 22, 2020
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Kurly founder named among world’s top female fundraisers
Founder of Seoul-based same-day deliery startup Kurly, Sophie Kim, was listed among the top 10 female founders in the world by fundraising, data showed Tuesday. The founder of Market Kurly had raised the eighth-most money on the list as of June, raking in a combined $282 million since Kurly’s inception in 2014, according to data compiled by Businessfinancing.co.uk, a research and information provider in UK. Kim was the only Korean and one of four from Asia. The list of Asian entreprene
Market July 21, 2020
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Seoul's commercial properties market less affected by coronavirus: reports
South Korea‘s commercial real estate market has been relatively less affected by the pandemic as the demand for both prime offices and logistics assets remains stable partly thanks to high liquidity and profit-seeking investors, reports showed Tuesday. The higher market liquidity coupled with the resilience of the economy, has instead beefed up competition for deals involving “core assets,” or prime office buildings that offer investors a stable source of income. “The
Market July 21, 2020
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[Market Close-up] Snowballing fiasco shows Korea's failure to create healthy hedge fund environment
This is the first in a two-part series exploring South Korea’s troubled hedge funds market. -- Ed. Yoo Hye-kyung, 76, discharged herself from a hospital a day early to participate in a rally on Wednesday in Seoul to demand full compensation for her 500 million won ($450,000) investment in Optimus Asset Management. Claiming that she hadn’t even heard of the hedge fund manager when she signed a contract with NH Investment & Securities, a leading brokerage here, Yoo was furious th
Market July 19, 2020
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Kakao Pay vows to expand e-bills service
Electronic payment service provider Kakao Pay said Thursday it aims to expand its service to enable bills to be created, delivered and paid online to spearhead Korea’s aim to transform into a paperless society. Capitalizing on the group’s popular mobile messenger platform KakaoTalk, Kakao Pay is likely to dominate the e-bills market by inviting more e-bill distributors to its platform, Lee Seung-hyo, chief product officer of Kakao Pay, said in a seminar held in Seoul. “At th
Market July 16, 2020
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Mastern to invite W110b for French office acquisition through REIT IPO
Seoul-based property investment house Mastern Investment Management said Wednesday it plans to invite 110 billion won ($91.6 million) in South Korean retail money through its new real estate investment trust to take over part of equities in an office building in the suburb of Paris. Mastern plans to list the REIT’s 22 million shares, each priced at 5,000 won, on Korea’s main bourse Kospi in August. The listing schedule will be determined after an initial public offering that is set
Market July 15, 2020
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