The South Korean market highlights an ongoing dilemma for asset owners’ appetite for private equity investments.
Alternatives
In 2018, Japan’s GPIF sought exposure to global real estate as part of a strategy to increase its alternatives portfolio - four years on, its allocation has grown nearly 500%.
The central bank will invest with global private credit fund managers, marking the extension of the Private Markets Programme (PMP) to the asset class for the first time.
Vietnam’s start-up ecosystem often draws comparison with that of Indonesia and China some years back, but investors in the market face different opportunities and exit options, say VC experts.
The sovereign fund carrying out the Belt and Road Initiative is expanding its footprint in Central Asia by partnering with Saudi’s leading private water and energy operator, ACWA Power.
High net worth investors are increasingly turning to bricks and mortar to allocate capital, with Japan and its residential housing sector emerging as a favoured destination.
More profound issues beyond the liquidity crisis of property developers include Chinese residents’ impaired confidence in the housing market and the slowing home sales dragging economic growth.
Asia’s private credit market is seeing a surge in investments from foreign asset owners and institutions in search of portfolio diversification amid uncertain economic conditions.
This reluctance contrasts sharply with large allocations by New Zealand super funds and increasing interest from Asian investors.
The demand from both older and newer generations of (U)HNWIs are spurring a development in private asset offerings for single and multifamily offices.
In 2012, we heard the now-familiar tune of asset owners moving towards alternatives in what was then a low-yield environment.
Asian pension funds need to work twice as hard, especially in governance for investment oversight, to keep pushing for greater portfolio diversification and resilience in order to fulfil their fiduciary duty to an ageing population.
