April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s top two life insurance companies Samsung Life and Kyobo Life have invested $130 million in a US infrastructure project, local media reported on Oct. 24.

In partnership with Australia-based IFM Investors, Samsung Life invested in a secured loan worth US$100 million with a first priority claim. The loan, secured against revenue of the Indiana toll road, is part of the refinanced loan of US$300 million borrowed by IFM Investors in 2015 when it acquired the operator of the road for US$5.725 billion. Kyobo Life invested US$29 million in the loan with the asset management unit of Metlife. The expected return is around 4 percent a year. 

The 257-kilometer-long road is a major freight corridor linking Chicago and the Ohio Turnpike.

Amid low interest rates, life insurance companies have been increasingly looking at alternative investment opportunities such as social overhead capital. US has recently emerged as a new investment target following President Donald Trump’s pledge to pour US$1 trillion into rebuilding the country’s infrastructures.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)