Kyobo AXA Investment Managers Ends 18-Year Joint Venture, Drops “AXA” and Makes a Fresh Start

[Financial News] Kyobo AXA Investment Managers is making a fresh start after ending its 18-year joint-venture arrangement and changing its name, following its conversion into a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyobo Life Insurance.
Kyobo Asset Management said on the 23rd that it had held an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting the previous day and changed its name to Kyobo Asset Management.
Kyobo AXA Investment Managers was established in September 2008 as a joint venture in which Kyobo Life Insurance and AXA Investment Managers, the asset management arm of France’s AXA Group, each held a 50% stake.
Last month, Kyobo Life Insurance acquired the 50% stake in Kyobo AXA Investment Managers held by BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding—3 million shares—for KRW 107.5 billion. With Kyobo Life Insurance becoming the sole shareholder, the joint-venture arrangement that began in 2008 came to an end after 18 years.
Kyobo Asset Management plans to expand its role as the group’s specialized asset management company following the consolidation of its ownership structure. In particular, it will actively expand into high-growth business areas, building on its established capabilities in managing traditional assets.
Kyobo Asset Management plans to develop exchange-traded funds (ETFs) into a new growth engine. After launching the Power SK Group ETF, which invests in major publicly traded companies affiliated with SK Group, the previous day, the company plans to significantly expand its range of index-based and thematic products and make ETFs a core growth driver.
The company will also strengthen its response to the retirement pension and institutional client markets. In retirement pensions, it will actively utilize power index funds while expanding its product lineup to include target-date funds (TDFs), which allocate assets according to the investor’s retirement date, as well as global equity and bond products. For institutional clients, it plans to enhance its solutions capabilities by strengthening active equity products alongside bonds.
The organization will also be restructured to align with the new growth strategy. Kyobo Asset Management plans to reorganize around its ETF, retirement pension and institutional client solutions divisions to strengthen coordination among businesses and accelerate the execution of its strategy.
A Kyobo Asset Management official said, "The key to this change is to organically connect our asset management capabilities with the group’s financial businesses and expand the range of choices available to customers." The official added, "Building on the management capabilities we have accumulated in traditional assets, we will continue to introduce products and solutions tailored to customers’ long-term investment objectives."

[email protected] Seo Min-ji Reporter