Ardian opens Korea office

The move comes 10 months after the firm established a presence in Japan for much the same reasons. The Seoul operation will be led by Won Ha, a director who has been with Ardian since 2011. Previously based in Singapore, he is a member of the fund-of-funds and investor relations teams.

“Our investor base in Asia continues to expand, and it is a market which we see as a major growth opportunity for Ardian. We already have a dozen Korean clients accounting for more than $1.4 billion assets under management,” Jan Philipp Schmitz, the firm’s head of Asia, said in a statement. The new office will also serve as a hub for investments by Ardian in Korean companies.

The firm has $82 billion under advisory or management globally. Its fund-of-funds portfolio – mostly secondaries but with some primary exposure – accounts for about the largest portion of these assets. Ardian also offers a range of investment products including private credit, direct PE funds, infrastructure, and real estate, as well as customized mandates under separate accounts.

In addition to Seoul and Tokyo, there are bases in Singapore and Beijing. The firm has about 750 LPs based in Asia across its different strategies. They include pension funds, insurance companies, and family offices.

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