The sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) generated more than 8% revenue last year. The assets under management surpassed $200 billion for the first time in three years since 2021.
KIC noted on the 28th that it recorded an annual revenue rate of 8.49% last year. Based on dollar returns, the revenue rate is estimated to exceed 23% when converted to won.
As of the end of last year, the assets under management amounted to $206.5 billion, which is equivalent to 304 trillion won (based on the Seoul foreign exchange brokerage's reference exchange rate of 1,470 won at the end of last year).
KIC's assets under management declined after recording $205 billion in 2021. In 2022, the revenue rate fell to -14.36%, dropping as low as $169.3 billion.
The annual revenue rate of traditional assets was recorded at 9.3% last year. In particular, it achieved a revenue rate of 18.83% from stocks, thanks to the rise of innovative companies driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and others.
However, the revenue rate for bonds was relatively low at -0.19%. Analysts attribute this to mixed forecasts regarding the extent and pace of the key interest rate cuts in major countries, leading to a volatile market.
Alternative assets (private equity, real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds, etc.) recorded an annualized revenue rate of 8.06% over the past seven years (2018-2024) and a cumulative annualized revenue rate of 7.68% since the first investment.
Park Il-young, president of KIC, said, “We achieved stable operating results through an active asset allocation strategy based on detailed research of corporations and industries and macroeconomic analysis, along with thorough risk management.”
Meanwhile, KIC's investment ratio by asset class showed 78.1% in traditional assets and 21.9% in alternative assets.