J.P. Morgan Asset Management CEO: “What We’ve Built with NPS Over 10 Years Is ‘Jeong’” [fn Market Watch]

[Financial News] George Gatch, CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, invoked the Korean word “Jeong” in describing the strategic partnership he formed with the National Pension Service (NPS). The aim is to broaden cooperation on the basis of the trust built over 10 years.
According to a post on Gatch’s LinkedIn account on the 13th, he wrote, “In Korea, there is a word, ‘Jeong,’ that describes a deep bond built over time,” and, “That is exactly what the NPS and we have built over the past 10 years.” He added, “This agreement is not the start of a relationship, but its next chapter,” and stressed, “The best is yet to come.”
On the 10th (local time), the NPS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a strategic partnership covering all asset classes with J.P. Morgan Asset Management at JPMorgan Chase’s headquarters in New York, United States. About 20 people, including NPS Chairman Kim Sung-joo and CEO Gatch, attended the signing ceremony. Beforehand, Chairman Kim met with senior executives, including JPMorgan Chase Co-President Troy Rohrbaugh, to discuss the outlook for global financial markets and ways to expand cooperation.
Under the agreement, the relationship between the two sides will expand from a focus on delegated asset management to comprehensive cooperation spanning equities, fixed income, multi-asset investments and alternatives. The two institutions will exchange knowledge on the global macroeconomy and market trends, asset allocation, portfolio construction and risk management, and will also pursue research collaboration.
Gatch said, “The NPS is one of the world’s largest pension funds, representing the financial futures of millions of people,” adding, “We take that responsibility seriously.”
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has managed NPS assets on a delegated basis since 2015. Its assets under management stood at about $4.8 trillion (about 6.5 quadrillion won) as of the end of September this year.
This is not the first time the NPS has formed an all-asset-class partnership with a global asset manager. This past March, the NPS signed an agreement of the same kind with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, at its headquarters in Jeonbuk Innovation City. It had previously formed a strategic partnership with Allianz Global Investors. The trend is toward expanding relationships that had been limited to mandates for individual asset classes into platforms for knowledge exchange.
The growth in the fund’s size is behind this expansion of cooperation. The NPS fund’s reserves had grown to 1,866 trillion won as of the end of June this year, while its return for the first half was 27.22% (provisional, money-weighted return). As the fund grows, the share of overseas investments and the complexity of managing them also increase, driving up the need to draw on the research capabilities of global asset managers.
Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan Asset Management will open a local office in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, in 2027.
Gatch said, “Our commitment to Korea runs deep and is growing,” adding, “We will bring our global active-management capabilities closer to clients.” Global custodian banks such as The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) and State Street Corporation already have offices in Jeonju, as does BlackRock. Some in the region, however, say that offices of foreign financial firms should play a substantive role rather than remain merely symbolic.
Chairman Kim said, “We expect this agreement to further strengthen the strategic cooperation between the two institutions,” adding, “We will continue to enhance our expertise in fund management and our investment capabilities through cooperation with global financial institutions.”

[email protected] Kang Gu-gwi Reporter