Officials from Yale University's endowment, which manages over 65 trillion won ($44 billion) in assets, are set to visit Korea to discuss investments with domestic asset managers. As expectations for a re-rating of Korean equities grow on the back of the government's corporate value-up initiative and expanding shareholder returns, even global university endowments are now scouting investment opportunities in the country.
According to the asset management industry on Tuesday, working-level officials from the Yale endowment plan to visit Korea in early-to-mid May for individual meetings with domestic managers including Align Partners, VIP Asset Management, Must Asset Management and Life Asset Management. The firms under consideration are leading domestic managers known for activist and value investing strategies, with the total number of meetings expected to reach five to six firms.
The industry views the engagement as an initial due diligence exercise to review investment strategy for the Korean market. The move is seen as a result of heightened interest from overseas endowments and foundations, as Korean equities continue their steep rally from last year into this year, coinciding with strengthened shareholder return measures such as commercial code revisions, dividend expansion and treasury stock cancellations.
"Global investors' interest in Korean equities has grown, but barriers to entry remain high, and many face difficulties even at the study stage before actual investment," a senior official at one asset management firm said. "This will be an opportunity to explore whether they can deploy actual capital by partnering with proven domestic managers."
The Yale endowment is a major global university fund with assets under management of $44.1 billion (approximately 65 trillion won) as of the end of June last year. It posted an investment return of 11.1% for fiscal year 2025, roughly double the 5.7% return of the previous year. It is known as the second-largest university endowment in the United States after Harvard's, and is regarded as a symbolic institution among global institutional investors for its long-term, diversified and alternative investment-focused strategy.
In October last year, officials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) endowment met with domestic activist funds to discuss investments. With major U.S. university endowments reaching out to Korean asset managers for two consecutive years, analysts say the interest is evolving from one-off contact into sustained engagement. Demand has grown to review the Korean market as a distinct investment destination, particularly as Korea places emphasis on governance improvements among major Asian markets.
The latest engagement was reportedly arranged through the network of a securities firm's prime brokerage service (PBS) division. The Yale endowment asked a brokerage to coordinate its schedule for Korean due diligence, and the meetings were set up through industry connections with ties to seasoned houses, according to the explanation.
