Mastern Investment Management, an alternative investment-focused asset management firm, carried out its first organizational restructuring and executive appointments since Chief Executive Park Hyeong-seok took office. The plan is to clearly separate investment and operations functions and strengthen the risk management framework to restore investor trust.
Mastern Investment Management on the 24th announced an organizational overhaul to take effect Jan. 1 next year. The core of this revamp is strengthening expertise and accountable management. The existing structure was reorganized into a total of eight institutional sectors: six front-line institutional sectors (domestic 1, domestic 2, overseas, REITs, marketing, infrastructure) and two support/management institutional sectors (management strategy and RM).
The most notable change is the bifurcation of the domestic institutional sector. The former domestic unit was split into a domestic 1 institutional sector dedicated to "investment" and a domestic 2 institutional sector dedicated to "operations." The domestic 1 institutional sector will focus on securing future growth engines such as deal sourcing, while the domestic 2 institutional sector will concentrate on stable management of existing assets and strengthening fund management capabilities. Accordingly, Domestic Institutional Sector Deputy Heads Park Gyeong-bae and Lee Tae-gyeong will lead the 1 and 2 institutional sectors, respectively, and were promoted to executive vice president.
The overseas institutional sector launched a Strategy Investment Headquarters to establish investment strategies across Asia, moving to diversify by region. Overseas Institutional Sector Head Cho Yong-min was also promoted to executive vice president in this reshuffle. The REITs institutional sector reorganized around listed REITs and project REITs to maximize sales performance.
In particular, to "restore investor confidence," Park created a marketing institutional sector. The marketing institutional sector will handle domestic and overseas investor network management and fundraising, and placed the CM Headquarters and the R&S (research/strategy) Office under it. The risk management (RM) institutional sector integrated and newly established the compliance and risk management office to enhance independence and expertise.
The Management Strategy institutional sector, a support organization, enhanced efficiency by integrating the former Management institutional sector and Strategic Planning institutional sector, with Executive Vice President Lee Gil-ui serving as its head.
Park said, "This overhaul is the first step toward Mastern Investment Management's recovery of trust and a fresh leap forward," adding, "Through a system where expertise and accountability work clearly, we will establish ourselves as an asset manager that gives investors trust and reassurance."