Barings Names New Korean CEO

Harry Keir Hughes

11 January 2017

, the London-headquartered global asset manager, has named Ike Bae, formerly head of sales at Barings Korea, as its Korean chief executive. He succeeds Thae Khwarg, who retired in December 2016 after spending more than 20 years with the company.

Bae joined Barings in 2011 as head of sales, in which role he was responsible for the Korean institutional and mutual fund businesses. Prior to that, he worked at asset manager Hanwha Investment & Securities and AllianceBernstein Investment Management in Korea.

Wonil Kim, previously head of institutional sales in Korea, replaces Bae as head of sales.

“With over 25 years of investment experience and expertise, Ike has been instrumental in helping to grow our business in Korea. Korea is a dynamic market and a strategic priority for our Asia business as we look to build out our platform with our newly expanded capabilities and product set,” said Gerry Ng, Barings' CEO for Asia-Pacific excluding Japan.

Last September, Barings - which has $284 billion in assets and 1,700 employees - completed the merger of Baring Asset Management, Babson Capital Management LLC - a private asset management company based in Springfield Massachusetts - Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, and Wood Creek Capital Management LLC - a New Haven, Connecticut-based firm that invests in real estate and agricultural infrastructure.