BlackRock has appointed Yoon Pyo Lee as managing director and head of South Korea, effective December 20, 2024. Based in Seoul, Lee will be tasked with developing and implementing a long-term business strategy for BlackRock in South Korea, where institutional investors are increasingly diversifying their portfolios with alternatives, active investments, and index funds to enhance resilience and meet financial objectives, according to a statement from the world’s largest asset manager.
Hiroyuki Shimizu, BlackRock’s deputy head of Asia Pacific, said: “[Lee’s) deep investment expertise is particularly relevant at present, given clients and investors are looking for whole portfolio advice to diversify investment more globally. We will continue to focus on deepening conversations with investors in South Korea”.
Lee has more than 25 years’ experience in private and public market investment, as well as business development, and possesses a thorough understanding of Korea’s market and dynamics.
Lee said, “BlackRock’s diverse investment capability is well placed to serve an institutional investor base that’s becoming increasingly sophisticated in asset allocation”.
He joins BlackRock from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he was head of Korea, responsible for driving the company’s asset management business across public and private market strategies.
Before that, Lee Pyo was co-CEO at Truston Asset Management, responsible for building the company’s private market practice and managing its fixed income business.
Lee brings over seven years of experience from the National Pension Service (NPS) of Korea, where he served as head of global private market investment and later as head of investment strategy. He was a member of the NPS Investment Committee and participated in the Special Committee for Private Market Investment. Additionally, Lee has held positions at Macquarie Group, Ernst & Young, and KPMG, focusing on investment and M&A transaction advisory services.