This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 1:49 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2025.
The National Pension Service raised the possibility of pulling its investment while protesting the sale of IGIS Asset Management, Korea's No. 1 real estate asset manager. It said a report on a fund to which the National Pension Service had committed capital was disclosed to prospective buyers without prior consent during the sale of management control.
The National Pension Service is the largest investor that provided funds in the trillion-won range to IGIS Asset Management. Last year alone, it invested 2.1 trillion won in 10 funds. If the recovery of the investment materializes, analysts say it could put the ongoing sale of management control on hold.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 10th, the National Pension Service recently lodged a strong protest with IGIS Asset Management over the provision of its fund reports to Hanwha Life, Heungkuk Life, and Hillhouse Investment Management Ltd., even mentioning the possibility of recovering the entire investment.
The National Pension Service in particular took issue with the fact that information on some of the larger funds managed by IGIS was shared with prospective buyers without prior consent. An industry official said, "Most pension funds do not have confidentiality clauses, but for six funds that hold large assets such as Yeoksam Centerfield and Magok One Grove, information cannot be shared without the National Pension Service's prior consent."
The official added, "However, the reports shared with prospective buyers did not include information that the National Pension Service is an investor. As far as I know, they contained information such as the amount of the fund's commitments, its valuation, and any issues related to the assets."
The National Pension Service also reportedly raised objections to IGIS Asset Management selecting a foreign fund as the preferred bidder. Foreign bidders were not initially among IGIS' options, and it protested that information had not been adequately shared in advance while demanding an explanation of how a foreign manager suddenly emerged. If a delegated manager violates a contract, the National Pension Service can consider terminating the mandate or recovering funds.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, the advisers for the sale of IGIS Asset Management, notified the China-based Hillhouse Investment Management Ltd. the previous evening that it had been selected as the preferred bidder. In the main bid, Hillhouse offered a sale price of 1.1 trillion won, beating Hanwha Life and Heungkuk Life for preferred bidder status.
The industry believes that if the National Pension Service withdraws the entire investment from IGIS Asset Management's funds as warned, the sale of management control could face setbacks. The company's valuation would likely fall sharply because total assets under management (AUM) would inevitably decline significantly. There are also projections that the deal terms and valuation with Hillhouse could be adjusted and that the deal itself could be renegotiated.
Because of the National Pension Service's move, the sale of IGIS Asset Management has hit another snag. The previous day, Heungkuk Life said it would take legal action, alleging unfair practices and deception in the process by which the sale advisers selected Hillhouse as the preferred bidder. It is also reviewing filing for an injunction followed by civil and criminal complaints.