The chairman and CEO of Korea’s $85 billion sovereign wealth fund has resigned for personal reasons.
Hongchul Ahn was two years into a three-year term at the top of the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) but has left with immediate effect, according to the Wall Street Journal.
KIC was yet to confirm Ahn’s departure at the time of publication.
The Journal reported that Ahn had been under pressure from Korean lawmakers over politically charged comments relating to a former president.
Before taking over as CEO of KIC in December 2013, Ahn was the commissioner of InvestKorea, an organization set up to promote foreign investment in the country. He was statutory auditor at KIC from 2005 to 2008.
Ahn was forced to apologize on behalf of the fund in November 2014 for a failed investment in Merrill Lynch. KIC lost $720 million on the deal, made in February 2008 shortly before the company merged with Bank of America.
KIC’s investment team is currently led by CIO Heungsik Choo, who was appointed in March 2014.
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