Chart of the Week: South Korean focused funds decline

Fundraising for South Korean focused private equity vehicles has fallen dramatically since 2010. This is due to limited partners increasingly seeking to invest in the trusted developed regions of North America and Western Europe.

Anchor Equity Partners’ Fund I was the largest South Korean focused vehicle that closed in 2013, with a size of $500 million. In 2012 the IMM RoseGold PEF II collected $700 million from limited partners, while Hahn and Co I and Woongjin Capital’s Mobile Korea Renaissance Fund gathered $750 million and $830 million in 2011 and 2010 respectively.

The rest of Asia-Pacific is witnessing a similar downward trend; total fundraising for Asia-Pacific focused vehicles fell by 55 percent between 2011 and 2013. Japan focused funds are among the very few exceptions. Such vehicles managed to break away from the trend by raising $657 million last year, which is double the aggregate capital gathered in 2011 and 2012.

There are six South Korean focused funds in market as of 24 February 2014 that are targeting a total of $1.9 billion, which could imply that this decline could reverse in the future.