Hayfin Capital opens Seoul office to deepen ties with Korean investors and expand maritime finance

Hayfin Capital Management, a €45 billion European alternative-asset manager, inaugurated a Seoul office on Thursday, naming Chris Choi, previously head of private credit at UBS Asset Management, as its leader. The move is intended to strengthen relationships with Korean institutional investors, a market the firm has served since 2016 and for which it currently manages close to €1 billion. Hayfin aims to draw Korean pension funds and insurers looking to diversify beyond heavy US private-credit holdings by offering European exposure.

Its Korean activities already include more than $1 billion invested in shipyards, focusing on maritime finance. The expansion follows a 2025 management buyout that brought Samsung Life Insurance, Mubadala and AXA IM Prime on as strategic minority shareholders, a development that appears to have heightened investor interest.