Woori Asset Management Launches 500 Billion Won Infrastructure Fund... Kicking Off "Productive Finance"

Designed as a Perpetual Closed-End Fund

Optimized for Energy and Infrastructure Investments

On May 27, Woori Asset Management announced that it has established the "Woori Regional Development Infrastructure Fund No. 1," a blind fund with a total size of 500 billion won.

According to Woori Asset Management, this fund was jointly financed by subsidiaries of the group, and Woori Asset Management will be solely responsible for its management by leveraging its alternative investment expertise.

Woori Financial Group plans to use this fund as a starting point to actively implement "productive finance" aimed at revitalizing local economies and achieving balanced national development. The group intends to focus on creating synergy between private capital and policy finance by establishing large-scale infrastructure funds aligned with government policies.

Woori Asset Management will allocate most of the fund’s assets to infrastructure projects for balanced regional development, operating it in connection with the government’s National Growth Fund and the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s initiative to boost private investment projects. Woori Financial Group aims to maximize policy effectiveness through swift decision-making and efficient execution throughout the entire process, from deal sourcing to investment and post-investment management.

In particular, the fund is designed as a "perpetual closed-end fund" with no maturity and no redemption. Perpetual closed-end funds are optimized for investments in physical assets such as energy and infrastructure, which require long holding periods. Recently, the Korea Accounting Standards Board issued a new interpretation allowing the gains and losses from investments in perpetual closed-end infrastructure funds to be accounted for as other comprehensive income (FVOCI) rather than profit or loss (PL), significantly easing the financial burden for financial companies. This regulatory change was proactively incorporated into the structure of this fund.

Woori Asset Management plans to further solidify its position in the alternative investment market with the launch of this first fund, while continuing to expand investments to make productive finance a future growth engine for the group.

Myung Dongil, Head of the Alternative Infrastructure Investment 1 Team at Woori Asset Management, stated, "Through this new investment model that ensures long-term stability, we will fully support the growth of local industries and infrastructure. We aim to develop this into a core future co-growth project for Woori Financial Group, simultaneously fulfilling our social responsibility for balanced national development and achieving financial performance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.