Unison Capital partner to chair PEF lobby group

By Kim Hyun-bin

Kim Soo-min, a partner at Unison Capital, has been appointed to head a leading private equity fund (PEF) lobby group. Previously, the post had been held by CEOs of large private equity firms, but the recent appointment is believed to be part of an effort to represent the stances of small and mid-size financial investment firms.

Kim Soo-min

According to investment banking circles, the PEF Association selected Kim Soo-min as its fifth chairman at a meeting last week. In 2013 when the association was launched, VIG Partners CEO Lee Jae-woo was appointed as the first chairman followed by MBK Partners CEO Kim Kwang-il, STIC CEO Kwak Dae-hwan and IMM PE CEO Kim Young-ho.

Before being appointed, Kim served as an executive at the PEF Association in a bridging role between large investment firms and small to mid-size companies.

Currently, the PEFA has around 50 members, which appears small compared to the 300 registered PEFs in the country. However, the 50 members' scale of operations takes up 80 percent of the market.

“The revision of the Capital Market Act enforcement ordinance, which took effect this month, has vastly increased information that private equity firms need to be aware of including authoritative interpretation. I will aid in the communication between the government and market and make necessary proposals,” Kim said. “We will accept more members from newly established PE firms and resume meetings and small gatherings that have been halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, to lead the development of the local PEF industry.”

Kim graduated from Seoul National University and earned an MBA at Columbia. He previously worked for Goldman Sachs and partnered at Bain & Company before becoming a partner at Unison Capital Korea.