S.Korean LPs name 41 best alternative asset managers
Jihyun Kim
Mar 21, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
Blackstone, Hamilton Lane, HarbourVest Partners and Audax Private Equity were jointly named the most preferred PE firms by South Korean institutional investors, a survey shows.
Ares Management, Antares Capital and H.I.G. Capital topped the list of the best private debt managers. CBRE Investment Management was picked as the best real estate firm, while Brookfield Asset Management and Vauban Infrastructure Partners were chosen as the favorite infrastructure managers.
KED Global, a premium business news provider, held a survey in January of this year to determine the preferred global asset managers of 20 Korean limited partners (LPs), including pension funds, mutual aids and insurers.
The respondents were asked to pick the best asset managers, or general partners (GPs) across five asset classes: private equity; private debt; real estate; infrastructure; and hedge funds in terms of performance, operation and client services. To prevent big-name houses from dominating the awards list, the GPs were separated into two categories: large-cap and mid-cap firms.
The subcategory awards focus on specific criteria. The Best Performance was awarded to outperforming managers in risk-adjusted returns. The Operational Excellence award was given to outstanding GPs in risk management, communication and key person employment. The Best Client Service prize was given to the investment firms which provided high-quality services tailored to LPs’ needs.
By asset class, GPs who received the most votes across the board were named Best of the Best.
Switzerland’s Partners Group, with $135 billion in assets, won Best Client Service awards in large-caps. The firm invests in private equity, private debt, real asset and liquid private markets worldwide.
Hamilton Lane and HarbourVest Partners were jointly chosen as the best PE fund of funds (FoFs) managers. Hamilton Lane, winning the distinction for three straight years, manages $107.8 billion in assets for more than 800 global institutional investors as of end-2022.
HarbourVest Partners, which was recognized for the best FoFs performance last year, manages $106 billion in assets including primary and secondary private equities, co-investment funds, real assets and private credits.
Swiss investment firm LGT Capital Partners, with $80 billion in assets, was picked for the Best Performance award. It specializes in private markets, liquid alternatives, multi-asset and multi-alternative solutions. US-based Adams Street Partners won the Operational Excellence prize. It has solely focused on private markets investments since 1972 and is managing $52 billion in assets.
StepStone Group, a US investment firm managing $134 billion in assets, won the Best Client Service award for two consecutive years. It provides customized solutions for private equity, private debt, real estate and infrastructure investments.
Among mid-cap PE managers, US-based Audax Private Equity, won the most votes. The PE arm of Audax Group is disciplined with buy & build approach and seeks to help companies execute add-on acquisitions.
New Mountain Capital, managing $37 billion in private equity, private credits and real estate, was given the Best Performance prize. Veritas Capital, a tech sector-focused investor managing $40 billion in assets, was picked for operational excellence.
French investment firm Ardian, which manages funds for NPS and Korea Post, was chosen as the best client service provider in mid-caps. Its assets under management or advised reach $150 billion.
Private equity
Large-cap
Fund of Funds
Mid-cap
Best of the Best
Blackstone
Hamilton Lane, HarbourVest Partners
Audax Private Equity
Best Performance
EQT Partners
LGT Capital Partners
New Mountain Capital
Operational Excellence
KKR & Co.
Adams Street Partners
Veritas Capital
Best Client Services
Partners Group
StepStone Group
Ardian
PRIVATE DEBT
Among large-cap private debt investors, US-based alternative credit manager Ares Management won the Best of the Best award for three years in a row. With $352 billion in assets, the firm offers primary and secondary investment solutions across global credit, private equity and real assets.
UK-based Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) topped the best performance list for two consecutive years. The investment firm is specialized in credit and real assets, managing $74.5 billion in assets.
Golub Capital, a US investment manager focusing on middle markets in software, consumer, financial services and healthcare, was chosen for operational excellence. Its assets under management amount to $60 billion.
Oaktree Capital was chosen for high-quality client services for two years in a row. Co-founded by globally renowned investor Howard Marks, the firm manages $170 billion in assets. The US firm invests in credit, private equity, real assets and listed equities with an emphasis on opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approaches.
In mid-caps, Antares Capital and H.I.G. Capital jointly topped the list of private debt managers.
With more than $60 billion of capital under management and administration as of end-2022, Antares is specializing in middle market private debt. Several Korean institutional investors, including Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund, Korea Scientists & Engineers Mutual Aid Association (SEMA) and Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA), injected about $300 million into the firm's $3.5 billion private credit fund last year.
H.I.G. Capital is a US firm that invests in private equity, growth equity, direct lending, special situations credit and real assets. The firm and its affiliates manage $55 billion in assets.
Monroe Capital, focusing on lower middle market direct lending and opportunistic strategies with $15.9 billion in assets, won the Best Performance award. TCW Group, specializing in fixed income, equities, alternative assets and emerging markets with $205 billion in assets as of end-2022, received the Operational Excellence prize.
European private credit manager Park Square Capital was picked for best client services. It manages $12 billion in assets in the healthcare, tech and business service sectors.
Private debt
Large-cap
Mid-cap
Best of the Best
Ares Management
Antares Capital, H.I.G. Capital
Best Performance
Intermediate Capital Group
Monroe Capital
Operational Excellence
Golub Capital
TCW Group
Best Client Services
Oaktree Capital
Park Square Capital
REAL ESTATE
CBRE Investment Management, with $149.3 billion, was picked as the favorite large-cap real estate firm by Korean LPs. It is an independently operated affiliate of the New York Stock Exchange-listed CBRE Group, one of the world’s largest commercial real estate investment firms.
Affinius Capital, formerly USAA Real Estate, was selected for best performance. With $35 billion in assets, the US investment firm develops global real assets, including industrial, logistics, multifamily and data center, as well as employs acquisition and lending strategies.
LaSalle Investment Management, an independent subsidiary of real estate services giant Jones Lang LaSalle, was recognized for operational excellence. The subsidiary manages over $79 billion of assets in real estate and debt investments as of end-2022.
Bridge Investment Group won the award for the best client service for two years in a row – with $43.3 billion in assets, the company is specialized in value-added strategies in the US second-tier suburbs. It opened its Seoul office in October 2020, tapping Seunghwan Lee as the managing director, who formerly served as a Deputy CIO at the sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC).
There was no award winner for the Best of the Best and Operational Excellence among mid-cap real estate investment firms this year.
Madison Realty Capital, which won the client service prize last year, was chosen for the Best Performance award in mid-caps this year. Managing $10 billion in total assets as of Dec. 31 of 2022, the US firm is specialized in senior secured loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity investment for construction, acquisition and refinancing of commercial real estate.
US-based Rockwood Capital was picked as the best client service provider this year. The real estate investor has $13.5 billion of equity commitments to value-add funds, debt funds and separate accounts since inception in 1995.
Real estate
Large-cap
Mid-cap
Best of the Best
CBRE Investment Management
N/A
Best Performance
Affinius Capital
Madison Realty Capital
Operational Excellence
LaSalle Investment Management
N/A
Best Client Service
Bridge Investment Group
Rockwood Capital
INFRASTRUCTURE
Among large-cap infrastructure investment firms, Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management, with $800 billion in assets, was named the Best of the Best. The firm has received more than $45 billion in commitments from Korean LPs since 2013. It owns the International Finance Center (IFC) in Seoul, which Mirae Asset Global Investments attempted to buy for 4.1 trillion won last year.
Macquarie Asset Management, with more than A$795.6 billion ($537.4 billion) in assets, won the Best Performance prize as a large-cap infrastructure investor. It runs Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund (MKIF), a Kospi-listed fund that focuses on transportation assets in Korea.
Ardian won the Operational Excellence prize for large-cap infrastructure manager. UK-based Pantheon Ventures, with $56.8 billion in assets as of the third quarter of 2022, received the Best Client Service award. It manages investments in private equity, real assets and private credit.
Among mid-cap firms, Paris-based Vauban Infrastructure Partners, managing $7.9 billion, won the most votes from the Korean institutional investors. The firm manages equity funds for development, financing and operation of infrastructure assets in the transportation, social, digital and utilities sectors.
British asset manager Schroders, which focuses on mid-sized brownfield core assets, received the prize for best performance. Its assets under management reach £737.5 billion ($898.4 billion) as of Dec. 31 of 2022.
InfraRed Capital Partners, managing more than $14 billion, was recognized for operational excellence this year. The UK asset manager invests in essential infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, roads and renewables.
London Stock Exchange-listed 3i Group was chosen for the Best Client Service award as a mid-cap infrastructure investor. Focusing on private equity and infrastructure in northern Europe and North America, its assets under management reach £22.9 billion ($28.1 billion).
Infrastructure
Large-cap
Mid-cap
Best of the Best
Brookfield Asset Management
Vauban Infrastructure Partners
Best Performance
Macquarie Asset Management
Schroders
Operational Excellence
Ardian
InfraRed Capital Partners
Best Client Service
Pantheon Ventures
3i Group
ABSOLUTE RETURN STRATEGY (HEDGE FUND & MULTI-ASSET)
US hedge fund Citadel, managing $62.3 billion in assets as of end-2022, was picked for the best performance as a large-cap manager of absolute return strategies. It won the same distinction in 2020.
New York-based the D. E. Shaw Group, an investment firm and tech developer managing $60 billion in assets, and London Stock Exchange-listed Man Group, one of the world's largest publicly traded hedge funds managing $143.3 billion in assets, were chosen for Operational Excellence and Best Client Service prizes, respectively.
Among mid-caps, UK-based Systematica Investments received the Best Performance award, winning the distinction for two consecutive years. It is specialized in trend following, relative value and long-only multi-assets.
Garda Capital Partners won the Operational Excellence award. Its fixed income relative value strategy captures opportunities in global interest rate disparities and sovereign debt instruments across developed markets. The firm has more than $9 billion in institutional assets as of Feb. 28, 2023.
Verition Fund Management was named the Best Client Service award winner. It manages a multi-strategy, multi-manager hedge fund focused on global investment strategies including credit, fixed-income & macro, convertible & volatility arbitrage, event-driven, equity long/short & capital markets trading and quantitative strategies.
There was no winner of the Best of the Best awards both in large- and mid-cap firms.
Absolute return strategy
Large-cap
Mid-cap
Best of the Best
N/A
N/A
Best Performance
Citadel
Systematica Investments
Operational Excellence
The D. E. Shaw Group
Garda Capital Partners
Best Client Service
Man Group
Verition Fund Management
Respondents to this survey include:
Pension service and state-run funds
Korea Post - savings bureau Korea Post - insurance bureau Teachers' Pension
Mutual aids & associations
Korean Federation of Community Credit Korea Teachers' Credit Union Public Officials Benefit Association Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund Military Mutual Aid Association
Insurers
Samsung Life Insurance Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Hanwha Life Insurance Kyobo Life Insurance Shinhan Life Insurance Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance KB Insurance KB Life Insurance Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance ABL Life Insurance NongHyup Life Insurance NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance
**Updated with the absolute return strategy award winner in mid-cap firms
Write to Jihyun Kim at snowy@hankyung.com Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.