Key Takeaways
- • Verdad, the Boston-based investment firm founded in 2014 by Dan Rasmussen, plans to launch the Verdad Korea Fund on February 1, 2027.
- • Over the decade ending August 2026, Korea's cap-weighted stock market returned 219% in dollars, while the average stock returned just 37%, according to the firm's announcement.
- • The firm's rationale centers on valuation dislocation: 52% of Korean stocks trade below book value.
- • The launch extends Verdad's deep-value, small-cap equity strategies, which already run in Japan, Europe and the US, into Korea.
Summary
Verdad, a Boston-based investment firm founded in 2014 by Dan Rasmussen, who previously worked at Bain Capital and Bridgewater Associates, has announced plans to launch the Verdad Korea Fund on February 1, 2027. The firm's announcement, published November 10, 2026, was framed around valuation: 52% of Korean stocks trade below book value.
According to the firm, Korea's cap-weighted stock market returned 219% in dollars over the decade ending August 2026. The average stock, by contrast, returned just 37% over the same period. The gap underscores how a small group of large-cap companies, including Samsung and SK, drove index performance while the broader equity universe lagged. The source article's full text is behind a login wall, so further detail on fund structure, size, or fee terms is not available from the primary source.
Verdad currently runs deep-value, small-cap equity strategies in Japan, Europe and the US, as well as a quantitative credit strategy, and managed $1 billion as of April 2024 per the editor's note. The Korea fund would extend that deep-value approach to a market where a majority of listed companies screen as cheap on book value. Allocators evaluating Korean small- and mid-cap exposure may find the announcement relevant to their country and style allocations.
According to the firm, Korea's cap-weighted stock market returned 219% in dollars over the decade ending August 2026. The average stock, by contrast, returned just 37% over the same period. The gap underscores how a small group of large-cap companies, including Samsung and SK, drove index performance while the broader equity universe lagged. The source article's full text is behind a login wall, so further detail on fund structure, size, or fee terms is not available from the primary source.
Verdad currently runs deep-value, small-cap equity strategies in Japan, Europe and the US, as well as a quantitative credit strategy, and managed $1 billion as of April 2024 per the editor's note. The Korea fund would extend that deep-value approach to a market where a majority of listed companies screen as cheap on book value. Allocators evaluating Korean small- and mid-cap exposure may find the announcement relevant to their country and style allocations.
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