This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:37 p.m. on Jul. 28, 2026.
KDB Infrastructure Asset Management was finally selected as the government's RE100 productive finance parent fund general partner (GP). It won after competing with major firms including Shinhan Asset Management and IGIS Asset Management.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 28th, the Korea Energy Agency (KEA) recently selected KDB Infrastructure Asset Management as the RE100 productive finance parent fund GP. Three firms, including KDB Infrastructure Asset Management, Shinhan Asset Management and IGIS Asset Management, took part in the bid and competed. The agency is said to have limited eligibility to managers with more than 10 trillion won in assets under management (AUM), allowing only a small number of large managers with alternative investment capabilities to compete.
The RE100 productive finance fund is a policy fund promoted as part of the new government's national agenda of "renewable energy-centered energy transition" and "productive finance transition." It was prepared to support domestic corporations' implementation of RE100 (100% use of renewable energy) and to encourage the expansion of renewable energy adoption. It will be created by using 350 billion won in Green Premium resources as anchor investment and recruiting additional private co-investors. The parent fund will raise capital from this year through 2028 and operate as a fund of funds structure that commits to lower-tier funds formed by private managers.
KDB Infrastructure Asset Management will oversee the parent fund's establishment and strategy, selection of operating support institutions such as trust companies, cash execution and liquidity management, sourcing of target projects, and selection and management of sub-funds. The parent fund's term will be up to 25 years from the initial establishment date, with a three-year investment commitment period.
The market expects fierce competition for selecting sub-fund managers as well. In Korea's renewable energy market, demand for RE100 has been steadily increasing, but profitability of solar and wind projects has deteriorated due to high interest rates and rising construction costs, and financial companies' investments in risk assets have shrunk significantly after the deterioration of real estate project financing (PF). As major institutional investors such as pension funds and mutual aid associations diversify their alternative portfolios into overseas infrastructure and private debt, it has become difficult to raise domestic renewable energy blind funds.
In this environment, policy funds in which the government participates as a large anchor investor are viewed as scarce sources of commitments. If selected as a sub-fund manager, firms can attract additional private capital based on government investment, leading to expectations that domestic infrastructure and energy specialist managers will focus their interest.
KDB Infrastructure Asset Management is an alternative investment specialist under KDB Industrial Bank established in 2003. In March this year, it changed its name from KDB Infrastructure Asset Management to its current name. It conducts a wide range of alternative investments, including private investment projects in social overhead capital (SOC) such as roads, railways and ports, as well as power and energy, new and renewable energy, overseas infrastructure and ship finance. As of the end of last month, it had 412 domestic and overseas investment projects and 26.3 trillion won in AUM.