KCGI Asset Management has entered the top 10 in the public equity fund market. It is a result achieved three years after changing its major shareholder and corporate name.
KCGI Asset Management said on the 14th that, after reviewing performance to mark the third anniversary of its name change, the net worth of its public equity funds (excluding ETFs, combining domestic and overseas) reached 216 billion won as of the end of July, up 194% from three years ago. That ranks in the top 10 among 48 full-service asset management firms. Considering that the same-type market grew only 67% over the period, its pace is 2.9 times faster.
Buoyed by gains in equity products, total net worth also expanded 2.1 times in three years to 590 billion won. That far outstrips the average net worth growth rate of 1.6 times among all asset managers over the same period.
The "fund of funds" segment, which is mostly overseas funds, also posted 170 billion won in net worth, settling into the top 10, building strong capabilities across public funds. It is rapidly scaling across various types, including bond (+572%), mixed bond (+339%), and fund of funds (+247%).
A KCGI Asset Management official said, "Public funds have strong investor protection systems and are suitable for individual investors, who find it hard to predict market trends, to invest regularly over the long term," adding, "We will focus on launching and managing funds where these strengths come into play to improve customers' long-term performance."
Underlying its rapid rise in the rankings are the management results of its core equity and asset allocation funds.
By type, eight out of nine categories—including domestic equity, domestic equity mixed, domestic bond, domestic bond mixed, TDF, overseas equity, and overseas equity mixed—beat their benchmarks (BM) in three-year average returns. In particular, domestic equity mixed (excess return vs. BM of 24.9 percentage points), TDF (+18.2 p.p.), overseas equity mixed (+15.8 p.p.), and overseas equity (+13.3 p.p.) posted strong results.
Growth in the pension asset segment, its core business area, was also steep. Pension assets, combining individual pensions and retirement pensions, totaled 225 billion won, expanding 3.3 times in three years. Retirement pension fund assets in particular jumped 6.6 times, with the flagship "KCGI Freedom Qualified TDF" ranking among the top performers across all vintages and periods. This is seen as the result of effectively absorbing retirement pension money that moved from the banking sector.
TDF net worth topped 100 billion won in early July, with its industry ranking rising to eighth.
Balanced performance continued in overseas equities and asset allocation as well. The asset allocation fund "KCGI Salaryman [Equity–FoF]," aimed at office workers and focused on growth stocks, returned 73.9% over three years (+40.8 p.p. vs. BM). "KCGI China [Equity]" also returned 53.2% (+38.1 p.p. vs. BM), with most major overseas funds outperforming their benchmarks.
After changing its name in 2023 and focusing on restoring sales channels, the company added two large sales channels handling more than 100 billion won to reach 10 firms, and added five mid-sized channels handling more than 10 billion won to reach 29 firms, even amid a slump in the public fund market.
Then last year, it won mandates to manage public funds as an external manager for about 20 major institutional investors, including the National Pension Service, pension funds, and mutual aid associations.
This year, it entered a strategic alliance with global asset manager Fidelity and rolled out a series of collaborative funds to the market.
A KCGI Asset Management official said, "With the company's efforts to achieve the strategic goals set at the time of the 2023 name change—strengthening pension asset management, bolstering global investment, and enhancing management capabilities as a full-service asset manager—and with your support, the company has built a foundation for growth," adding, "Marking the third anniversary, we will continue to develop new products that meet customer needs, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), strengthen bond and alternative management, and enhance capabilities in the private institutional sector to grow into an asset manager loved by customers."
After its major shareholder changed to KCGI in 2023, KCGI Asset Management changed its corporate name to KCGI Asset Management on Aug. 15 of the same year.
To mark the third anniversary of the name change, KCGI Asset Management prepared the "3-3-3 quiz event" to share its performance with customers. Running from the 15th of this month to the end of September, the event will offer prizes related to the number "three," such as Samsung Galaxy Watch, red ginseng, and samgyeopsal, through a drawing.