Towers Watson has been appointed to help a major Korean public pension fund invest in overseas alternative assets.

Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS), which provides retirement benefits to more than one million government employees, has expanded its asset allocation to include overseas real estate, private equity and hedge funds. However the fund has yet to invest in overseas alternative assets on a “meaningful scale”.

Towers Watson will use its global experience to review new investment opportunities and potential investment managers for the fund.

The firm will also share its investment knowledge and capabilities; provide research and analysis of new strategic investment opportunities, support the fund’s internal teams in accessing these opportunities by assessing potential investment managers; and assist in the due diligence process.

Jayne Bok, head of sovereign advisory for Asia at Towers Watson, said: “We are delighted to be selected as GEPS’ partner and are excited about the prospect of helping them to achieve their investment goals, as well as extending their global reach.

"Korean sovereigns are keen to better understand their global peers, but the reality is that in doing so these organisations face genuine time and resource constraints. However, we are very experienced globally in complementing internal investment teams and are used to having a proactive role, which is particularly advantageous in the fast-moving world of investing in alternative assets.”