Franklin Templeton will open a "contact office" in Jeonju, the South Korean city roughly two hours south of Seoul where the country's national pension fund organization was relocated to six years ago, the company announced Friday.
The office will be dedicated to supporting the 915.3 trillion won ($725 billion) National Pension Service, one of Franklin Templeton's "largest strategic institutional clients" in the Asia-Pacific region, by performing a liaison function for NPS-related work, including market research and analysis, said Tariq Ahmad, co-head of Asia-Pacific, in an email.
Mr. Ahmad declined to say how much money Franklin Templeton manages at present for NPS but a company news release Friday said market segments the firm manages NPS assets in include equities, fixed income, private assets, real estate and infrastructure.
The news release didn't provide details regarding the resources to be dedicated to the Jeonju office. Mr. Ahmad said the office will work in close collaboration with the firm's team in the region to "drive efficiencies and create an enhanced experience for the team at NPS."
Mr. Ahmad said Franklin Templeton has liaison offices in other parts of the world catering to the needs of specific institutional clients. With an eye on the importance of long-term relationships, "we remain committed to working with NPS to provide solutions based on their diverse needs," he said.
NPS' move to Jeonju from Seoul between 2016 and 2017 was part of a campaign to ease the overconcentration of key government operations in the country's capital city.
