Korea Growth Investment Corporation reorganizes, separates “fund commitments and post-investment management” [fn Market Watch]

[Financial News] Korea Growth Investment Corporation has separated its fund commitment and post-investment management functions. The move comes in its first reorganization since CEO Jang Sang-ik took office. It is overhauling its operating structure, replacing the system in which each department handled everything from planning and committing capital to post-investment management of the funds it oversaw with dedicated organizations for each function. It has also set up new teams to strengthen research and analysis and support overseas business.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 1st, Korea Growth Investment Corporation carried out an organizational overhaul and large-scale personnel changes effective on the 26th of last month, expanding from two divisions and eight offices to two divisions and nine offices. In addition to the Investment Management Division and the Management Planning Division, it established a Management Support Office reporting directly to the CEO, with an Operations Support Team and a Research and Analysis Team under it.
The key change is a reorganization of work previously organized separately for each fund of funds according to the nature of the funding source and each work function. Until now, each department handled everything from consulting with investors and forming funds to post-investment management of sub-funds. Going forward, fund commitments and post-investment management will be handled separately by dedicated teams. Commitment work has been divided mainly between government and policy-finance institution funds on the one hand and private-sector funds on the other. Investment Management Office 1 will oversee the National Growth Fund, the Growth Ladder Fund and fintech-related funds, which receive funding from the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the government budget. Investment Management Office 2 will handle commitments to funds financed by commercial banks and large corporations.
Each office has also assigned separate teams to handle commitments to blind funds (funds whose investment targets have not been determined) and project funds (funds whose investment targets have been determined). The newly established Research and Analysis Team under the Management Support Office, which reports directly to the CEO, will strengthen research and analysis to support fund management. The company plans to compile data on the investment records and management performance of funds to which it has committed capital and provide it to funding institutions, the government and others.
The IB industry views the reorganization as an effort to strengthen both the expertise involved in managing policy funds and the capacity for post-investment verification. “As policy-oriented funds of funds grow in size and importance, the ability to manage actual investment performance has become just as important as deploying capital,” an IB industry source said. “Now that commitments and post-investment management have been separated, the key will be how much this improves the expertise of fund-manager selection and the objectivity of performance management,” the source noted. 
The company is also operating a task force (TF) to build a database related to its IT systems. In addition, it has formed a dedicated team to identify new business opportunities and is preparing to enter overseas markets. It aims to expand its connections with overseas investors seeking to invest in Asian markets, including Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, and is also considering ways to attract foreign capital to Korea’s venture-capital market over the long term.
CEO Jang Sang-ik was born in 1967. He took office last June as the fourth CEO of Korea Growth Investment Corporation and is a venture investment expert who worked at Korea Venture Investment Corporation for 16 years. He has held positions including head of the Venture Investment Division at Korea Venture Investment Corporation, after working at Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers and Value Meet Investment, among other firms.
Korea Growth Investment Corporation is a specialized manager of policy-driven venture capital, established to provide funding to domestic small and medium-sized enterprises, venture firms and innovative companies. It raises funds from the government, financial institutions and others to create funds of funds, then commits capital to sub-funds managed by individual investment firms. 

[email protected] Kang Gu-gwi Reporter