Financial Supervisory Service Identifies 4 Asset Management Firms Showing Signs of Poor Performance Similar to Optimus

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Financial authorities reportedly conducted document inspections on five asset management companies, including Optimus Asset Management, after identifying signs of insolvency in January.

According to the financial investment industry on the 12th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) conducted a reality check on 52 asset management companies and 1,786 funds from November last year to January this year following the Lime Asset Management incident. Among them, 10 companies were selected as "intensive monitoring targets" due to abnormal signs found in areas such as the proportion of private bonds held, mismatches between assets and maturities, and the proportion of individual investors.

The FSS determined that additional inspections were necessary for five of the 10 companies and proceeded with document inspections. In particular, regarding Optimus Asset Management, the FSS confirmed circumstances where, contrary to the investment proposal stating investment in public institution accounts receivable, the company purchased distressed private bonds, and sent a prior notice of on-site inspection on the 12th of last month.

However, just five days later, on the 18th of last month, Optimus Asset Management declared a suspension of redemptions amounting to 38 billion KRW, and currently, the suspended redemption investments exceed 100 billion KRW.

Within the industry, there are calls that on-site detailed inspections of the other four companies that underwent document inspections alongside Optimus Asset Management are also essential. It is expected that once the "Private Fund Full Inspection Team" is launched this month, the FSS will begin inspections starting with these four companies.