이 기사는 2021년 10월 18일 07:52 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) is poised to post a record return on its investments this year, with its corporate investment division already generating its annual target of 100 billion won ($84 million) during the first six months of this year.

POBA, which manages funds to support public officials’ welfare, said on Thursday that its assets under management increased by 2.05 trillion won to 16.37 trillion won last year. Its net profit was 201.4 billion won, extending its profit streak for the fifth consecutive year. It recorded a return of 7% last year.

POBA’s assets under management have increased from 12.23 trillion won in 2018 to 14 trillion won in 2018, and are expected to exceed 18 trillion won this year. It has increased the proportion of its real asset investments to about 32.1%.

POBA’s positive performance is attributable to an increase in the proportion of its overseas alternative investments in line with its strategy to diversify its investment channels.

POBA’s corporate investment division already achieved its annual investment return target of 100 billion won during the first half of this year thanks to exits from JobKorea and HYBE deals.

H&Q acquired a 49.9% stake in JobKorea, the South Korea’s No. 1 job portal, in 2013 and bought the rest of the stake in 2015. POBA participated in the H&Q’s third blind-pool fund as a limited partner, which gave the association 30 billion won of return as H&Q exited from JobKorea earlier this year.

POBA’s investment in HYBE, formerly Big Hit Entertainment, also hit the jackpot. STIC Investments sold a 7.6% stake in HYBE through a block deal worth about 814 billion won, which marked a return of over nine times invested capital from an exit from its two-and-a-half year investment. POBA also generated a return of around 40 billion won from the investment.

POBA said it is expected to generate a return of around 12% this year as its corporate investment division already achieved its target return in the first half of this year. (Reporting by Seon-young Kim)