Samsung Asset Management, the OCIO provider for South Korean government pensions, is actively exploring private credit secondaries and co-investment strategies. This shift comes as a direct reaction to prevailing market volatility, seeking avenues that offer more control than broad market exposure. The firm views these areas as offering necessary selectivity.

Seong Sup Cho, head and OCIO for the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Fund at Samsung AM, detailed this preference during a recent forum. Cho indicated that these targeted strategies allow the fund to avoid simply following herd behavior within the broader credit market. Such selectivity provides a buffer against macroeconomic headwinds.

Investors are increasingly valuing these defensive maneuvers, viewing secondaries and co-investments as providing a degree of downside protection unavailable in primary, newly originated credit deals. For institutional allocators managing large pools of public money, this signals a move toward portfolio de-risking through proven, established assets.

This tactical adjustment demonstrates how large South Korean asset managers are recalibrating risk exposure following periods of macroeconomic uncertainty. Private credit secondaries offer immediate yield capture and less reliance on future origination pipelines.