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Korea Investment & Securities
Korea Investment & Securities was founded in 1974 as an investment trust company, growing into a full-service securities firm under the Korea Investment...
Korea Investment & Securities
Korea Investment & Securities was founded in 1974 as an investment trust company, growing into a full-service securities firm under the Korea Investment Holdings umbrella. The parent group traces its origins to the Korea Investment & Development Corporation, a government-backed vehicle established in 1968 to develop local capital markets. Today, the firm houses investment banking, brokerage, wealth management, and proprietary trading under one roof, serving retail and institutional clients from its Seoul headquarters. The firm's principal investment book spans venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, and privatization deals. It participates across the full lifecycle — from seed-stage technology startups through late-stage pre-IPO rounds and structured buyouts — with a geographic focus on South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Known venture-backed exposures include early commitments to Korean fintech platforms, health-tech companies, and industrial technology firms as part of the group's direct principal investment program. A portion of its alternative assets flows through the group's dedicated venture capital arm, Korea Investment Partners. Kim Nam-goo, who assumed the CEO role in late 2023, oversees an organization that reported KRW 5.4 trillion in equity capital for Korea Investment Holdings as of June 2024 (per the firm's regulatory filings). The wider group's footprint includes asset management, private equity, real estate, banking, and a credit finance subsidiary. In March 2024, the firm announced the launch of a tokenized securities business, positioning early in South Korea's evolving regulatory framework for digital assets and security tokens (per Chosun Biz, March 2024). What distinguishes Korea Investment & Securities is its posture as a publicly owned universal securities house in a market where the largest competitors — Mirae Asset, Samsung Securities, KB Securities — are either listed but chaebol-aligned or bank-controlled. Its independence lets the firm pursue partnership models with institutional LPs and co-investors without a parent conglomerate's strategic filter, an architecture that has quietly shaped its venture portfolio for two decades.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
1974
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Asia
Country
South Korea
City
Seoul
Corporate office
Seoul, South Korea
Principals
Kim Nam-goo
CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Korea Investment & Securities?
Kim Nam-goo has served as CEO since late 2023. The firm's investment banking and principal investment activities are managed through dedicated division heads under his leadership, with venture-stage allocations flowing primarily through Korea Investment Partners, the group's venture capital arm.
How does the firm source its venture and private equity deal flow?
The firm combines its dominant South Korean brokerage network with a regional presence in Southeast Asia to originate deals. Its venture arm operates offices in Seoul, Shanghai, and Silicon Valley, and the parent group's investment banking franchise provides proprietary access to late-stage and pre-IPO opportunities across Korea and Vietnam.
Is Korea Investment & Securities structured as a family office or a publicly traded firm?
It is a publicly traded subsidiary of Korea Investment Holdings, a listed financial conglomerate on the Korea Exchange. Unlike chaebol-tethered competitors, the firm operates with a professional management structure and dispersed public ownership, making it rare among top-tier Korean securities houses.
Does the firm participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
It engages through both channels. Korea Investment Partners, the group's dedicated venture capital subsidiary, manages commingled funds that attract third-party institutional LPs. The parent securities firm also invests its own balance sheet in direct principal transactions and co-investment structures.
How is Korea Investment & Securities related to Korea Investment Partners?
Korea Investment Partners, founded in 1986, operates as the venture capital arm of Korea Investment Holdings. With over $3 billion in cumulative assets under management, it is one of Korea's oldest and largest VC platforms and serves as the primary channel for early-stage and growth-equity technology investments for the group.
Where does Korea Investment & Securities invest geographically?
The firm's direct principal and venture portfolios concentrate on South Korea, with expanding exposure to Vietnam and Indonesia. Its venture capital subsidiary also maintains an office in Shanghai and has made selective co-investments alongside Silicon Valley-based funds.
Which sectors does the firm's venture arm typically target?
Korea Investment Partners focuses on fintech, enterprise software, healthcare services, and industrial technology. The parent securities firm's balance-sheet investment book additionally includes privatization deals, structured credit, and real estate-linked transactions aligned with Korea's domestic infrastructure cycle.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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