On Monday, Keppel Capital, the manager of S$33 billion ($24 billion) in client assets that is owned by Singapore sustainable infrastructure firm Keppel Corporation announced a strategic cooperation with the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS) to explore private infrastructure investments in Asia.
Besides combining the investment expertise of Keppel Capital and NPS—the world’s third-largest pension fund—the matchup avails itself of Keppel Corporation’s formidable track record in developing and operating complex real assets. These include energy and environmental infrastructure projects, renewable energy and related technology solutions, urban development and connectivity.
The partnership is not expected to have any material impact on Keppel Corporation Limited’s net tangible assets or earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Keppel Capital
Keppel Capital manages client funds primarily through listed REITs, a business trust, and a number of private funds, including Keppel Infrastructure Fund Management, Keppel DC REIT Management, Alpha Investment Partners Limited and Keppel Capital Alternative Assets.
The company also co-invests in high-quality, cash-generating real assets that are based in current trends toward urbanization, such as data centers, power and desalination plants.
This year alone, Keppel Capital has launched an Asian-focused infrastructure fund, a private credit fund, an Indonesian logistics property venture, and partnered with mutual company Australian Unity to start funds focused on the Australian urban office sector. Keppel Capital also invested RMB 1.5 billion (about $220 million) in a data center in China’s Guangdong Province, its first commitment in the Chinese data center market.
Keppel Capital CEO Christina Tan said, “We are glad to partner with NPS, the world’s third largest pension fund, to jointly explore investment opportunities in the infrastructure space in Asia. Notwithstanding the current challenging macroeconomic environment, we are confident that by working together with a world-class and like-minded institutional investor, we will be able to synergize and tap on each other’s expertise and capabilities, given that we both embrace a value-oriented shareholder focus and disciplined approach to investment.”
Quite a footprint
The asset manager’s parent company, the publicly listed Keppel Corporation, is the world’s leading provider of offshore solutions and services for the oil and gas industry. It is a licensed electricity retailer in Singapore serving all customer segments. It is also a major player in the region’s renewable energy efforts, on track to achieve 3GW of installed wind capacity by end of 2025, and 7GW by 2030. The company is also focusing on the development of utility-scale wind as well as commercial and industrial solar projects, with installed capacities of above 50 megawatts. KRE is also exploring the development of run-of-river hydroelectric projects.
Keppel Corporation’s real estate holdings include a landbank of about 45,000 homes and 1.7 million square feet of commercial gross floor area spanning Singapore, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and other countries. It also owns more than 20 quality data centre assets across the Asia Pacific and Europe regions.
Finally, its Keppel Land urban development division invests in sustainable cityscapes and user experience throughout the region, with sustainable homes, green offices and malls.