SK Square taps NPS PE expert as global investment head

SK Square Co., South Korea's investment firm, has recruited Harvey Hakjin Bae as Managing Director of Investment & Partnerships, marking a significant expansion of the company's global alternative investment platform. Bae, who departed from National Pension Service (NPS) of Korea in April 2022 after serving 11 years in its private equity division, brings deep institutional networks and extensive experience in cross-border PE deployment. As head of Americas PE and global hedge funds at NPS, Bae oversaw the pension fund's international private equity strategy and maintained relationships with marquee institutional investors across North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.

In his new role at SK Square, Bae will be responsible for sourcing investment opportunities alongside global institutional partners, structuring funds with international private equity firms, and identifying target portfolio companies for acquisition or investment. The appointment arrives as SK Square is executing an ambitious international growth strategy, evidenced by the firm's participation in launching a 1 trillion won ($774.9 million) fund in early 2022 alongside SK Group affiliates SK Hynix Inc. and SK Telecom Co. That fund targets high-growth sectors including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and metaverse technologies—sectors aligned with SK Group's broader technology and innovation positioning.

Bae's professional background reflects the technical rigor expected at institutional PE shops. Before joining NPS in 2011, he worked as a financial advisor at EY Hanyoung (Ernst & Young's Korean subsidiary) from 2007 to 2010. During his NPS career, he established operational expertise through varied assignments: managing PE investments from the New York office (2014–2017), leading the Private Equity Team II (2018–2019), and most recently leading Americas PE coverage over a two-year period. His educational credentials include a business management degree from Seoul National University and a master's degree in finance from the University of Rochester.

The hire reflects SK Square's strategic pivot toward leveraging professional talent from Korea's largest institutional investors to build competitive advantages in international fund formation and co-investment. By recruiting an executive with established credibility among CPPIB, Singapore's GIC, and Temasek Holdings, SK Square gains immediate access to relationship channels that typically require years of institutional credibility to develop. For alternative investment professionals monitoring SK Group's capital allocation strategy, Bae's appointment signals management's commitment to establishing SK Square as a viable alternative to leading regional and global PE platforms in Asia-Pacific and cross-border transactions.