Korea's sovereign wealth fund discusses life science real estate investment in London

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) headquarters in central Seoul / Courtesy of KIC

By Anna J. Park

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, hosted a meeting of the London International Financial Cooperation Council on Thursday, local time in London, delving into the topic of life science real estate investment with experts from the U.K.

Life science real estate refers to offices and research facilities leased by biopharmaceutical companies or research institutes, representing one of the most popular types of real estate investments globally, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 21st meeting of the London-based council was attended by dozens of investment experts, ranging from Korean institutional investors from both public and private sectors as well as real estate experts in London.

Emma Goodford, who heads the Life Science & Innovation department at Knight Frank's London operation, also participated the council meeting, offering a presentation on unique characteristics of life science real estate investment.

During her presentation, she noted that the difficulty of setting up life science research facilities has yielded long-term real estate lease contracts, which makes investments stable and predictable. The real estate expert also stressed that the life science industry is growing fast, receiving accelerated investments from a wide range of sectors.

“The U.K. is one of the top leaders in the global life science industry, along with the U.S. Investment into global life science real estate will contribute to the sovereign wealth fund's portfolio diversification,” said Park Jin-sung, chief of KIC's London office and the host of the cooperation council.

KIC's London office added that it will continue holding meetings that facilitate deeper understanding on market trends and drawing up advanced investment strategies. KIC currently operates regional offices in New York, San Francisco, London and Singapore to strengthen investment networks for local institutional investors.