Shinhan Asset Management Completes Selection of Sub-Fund Managers for National Growth Fund's "Challenge" and "Small Leagues"

Shinhan Asset Management announced on June 2 that it has completed the selection of sub-fund managers for the "Challenge League" and "Small League" as part of the first round of 2026 indirect investment policy fund commitments for the National Growth Fund, which it manages on behalf of Korea Development Bank.

The National Growth Fund is a government-led policy fund that will provide a total of 150 trillion won over five years, based on the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund and private capital. Its goal is to foster 12 advanced strategic industries, including artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, bio, secondary batteries, future mobility, and hydrogen, with approximately 30 trillion won to be allocated this year alone. This indirect investment segment is designed to leverage the expertise of private asset managers to identify promising companies and provide capital across all stages of growth.

In this first round of commitments, Shinhan Asset Management, together with Korea Development Bank, oversaw the selection of managers for the Challenge League and Small League, which are policy funds aimed at facilitating market entry for new and small-to-midsize asset managers. The Challenge League is expected to have a target fund size of 75 billion won (total 150 billion won), and the Small League 100 billion won (total 200 billion won), with the two leagues combined forming sub-funds totaling approximately 350 billion won when including private matching capital.

At the application deadline in April, 35 firms applied for the Challenge League and 17 for the Small League. Following document and oral evaluations in May, the final managers were selected.

According to the evaluation results, Samho Green Investment and Ace Stone Ventures were selected for the Challenge League, while Aju IB Investment and Paratus Investment were chosen for the Small League. The selected managers will form sub-funds within this year by leveraging commitments from the main fund and utilizing private investor confirmations.

The established sub-funds must invest at least 40% of their capital in advanced strategic industries and at least 60% of the total fund size in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-cap companies. As a result, growth capital is expected to be supplied to promising companies in national strategic sectors such as AI, semiconductors, bio, and secondary batteries.

A Shinhan Asset Management representative stated, "The Challenge and Small League serve as meaningful channels for new and small-to-midsize managers with growth potential to enter the advanced strategic industry investment market," and continued, "As a delegated manager, we will broaden the base of the advanced industry ecosystem through fair and professional reviews, and responsibly manage the post-investment process to ensure the policy goals of the National Growth Fund translate into tangible results on the industrial frontlines."

In addition, Shinhan Asset Management plans to further focus the group's capabilities on supplying growth capital to advanced strategic industries and SMEs and mid-cap companies by establishing new venture capital funds totaling more than 300 billion won, in addition to the currently managed "Shinhan Startup Venture Fund" and "Science and Technology Innovation Fund," which together have reached a cumulative size of 1 trillion won under management.

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