[Edaily Marketin KIM SUNG-SOO Reporter Kim Yeon-seo] The Korea Teachers' Credit Union is accelerating preparations to open an overseas office in New York, U.S., next year.

The Association, which has been conducting overseas alternative investments without an overseas office, plans to establish a direct local presence to expand its network and improve access to investment information.

Budget and Internal Regulations Being Finalized Following Amendment of Articles of Incorporation

According to the Korea Teachers’ Credit Union on the 28th, the Credit Union completed the amendment of its articles of incorporation on July 31 and is currently carrying out follow-up work to open the New York office next year.

Currently, the association is drawing up a detailed budget and revising its internal regulations, while also carrying out all necessary tasks for the office’s opening, including securing office space, setting up the work environment, and establishing information technology (IT) infrastructure.

Staff to be dispatched to the New York office have already been selected. Previously, the Credit Union selected a total of five candidates for the post: four Grade 3 staff members (at the operational level) and one Grade 2 staff member (at the team leader level). This effectively establishes a team of operational staff to directly assess local investment and market conditions and carry out tasks related to overseas investments.

The establishment process has also been proceeding in stages. The Teachers’ Mutual Aid Association completed internal amendments to its articles of incorporation by October of last year and then obtained approval from relevant committees, including the Budget and Settlement Subcommittee, in November of last year.

Subsequently, the Teachers’ Mutual Aid Association reported the purpose of establishing the overseas office and its articles of incorporation to the Ministry of Education and received final approval from the Minister of Education. It is currently working on formulating the budget for the 2027 fiscal year.

The establishment of the Teachers’ Mutual Aid Association’s New York office is a move to address the limitations in local networking and access to information that have existed due to the lack of an overseas office. In the alternative investment market, local market trends and networks between investors and asset managers—which are difficult to gauge based on publicly available data alone—can influence investment decisions.

Conversely, since the Teachers’ Mutual Aid Association did not have its own local presence overseas, it faced limitations in accessing non-public information through local networks.

As New York is a financial hub densely populated with global financial institutions, asset managers, and alternative investment managers, the Teachers’ Credit Union plans to directly build local networks and enhance access to investment-related information through its New York office.

Strengthening “Local Networks” for Overseas Alternative Investments

Jeong Gap-yun, Chairman of the Teachers’ Mutual Aid Association, determined that establishing overseas offices was necessary for the quantitative and qualitative growth of the Association’s overseas investments.

Given that major institutional investors, such as the National Pension Service and the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), have already established overseas offices in key regions like the U.S., the U.K., and Singapore to strengthen their global network capabilities for overseas investments, the Teachers’ Credit Union determined that it, too, needed to follow suit.

Chairman Jeong stated, “While 60% of the Teachers’ Credit Union’s assets under management are in overseas investments, the schedules of the staff conducting overseas due diligence are so tight that they often have to sleep in cramped quarters for 4 nights and 6 days, making it difficult to focus on their due diligence work.” He added, “I believe that in order for the Credit Union to identify sound investment opportunities, we must create an environment conducive to that, which is why we decided to establish overseas offices.”

In fact, overseas alternative investments have contributed to boosting the Teachers’ Mutual Aid Association’s returns. As of last year, the Association’s overseas assets had expanded to approximately 43 trillion won (about 61% of total assets). This is the result of a steady annual increase in their share, up from 11 trillion won in 2018, which accounted for only 42% of total assets.

These overseas assets played a key role in helping the Teachers’ Mutual Aid Association achieve a fund management return of 11% in both 2024 and 2025. In particular, in 2024, the assets that recorded high double-digit returns were △foreign stocks (30.9%), △foreign financial alternatives (corporate finance) (19.9%), and △foreign infrastructure (18.7%)—all of which were overseas assets.

This stands in contrast to domestic assets, which generally posted single-digit returns or incurred losses during that period. Returns by domestic asset class were as follows: △Domestic infrastructure: 9.1% △Domestic real estate: 7.2% △Domestic alternative finance (corporate finance): 6.4% △Domestic bonds: 5.9% △Domestic stocks: -5%.

However, the exact opening date for the New York office has not yet been finalized. Practical preparations—including budget, internal regulations, office space, and IT infrastructure—are currently underway, and the specific opening date will be determined at a later time.