Korea Investment Corporation holds New York finance forum, sees AI investment driving US growth

The Korea Investment Corporation held a forum in New York, bringing together Korean finance professionals and local investment experts to discuss the global economic outlook and investment strategy. The US economy is expected to maintain solid growth driven by AI-related investment, though elevated inflation and a widening fiscal deficit were flagged as headwinds.

KIC said Friday it hosted the 31st New York Finance Forum at the Consulate General of Korea in New York on Thursday (local time), organized by its New York office.

About 40 people attended, including the deputy consul general of the Consulate General of Korea in New York, along with investment officials from government agencies, public investment institutions, securities firms, banks and insurers.

Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard Asset Management, delivered the keynote presentation on the global economic and market outlook, assessing conditions and financial markets across the United States, Europe, China and Japan, and offering investment strategies based on his analysis.

Temple said further weakening of the US dollar, a widening of yield curves on government bonds in developed markets, and improving relative performance of equities outside the United States would be key variables shaping global financial markets going forward. He added that the US fiscal deficit and expanding government spending in major economies could put upward pressure on interest rates over the medium to long term.

He projected that the US economy would sustain solid growth on the back of AI-related investment, while cautioning that high inflation and the fiscal deficit remained risks. For Europe, he identified energy prices and shifts in fiscal policy as the main variables to watch; for China, the sluggish real estate market and the pace of domestic demand recovery; and for Japan, rising prices and wages alongside corporate governance reform.

Kim Yul-young, head of KIC's New York office, said the pace of change in the global economy and financial markets was accelerating, and that investment opportunities across regions and asset classes were becoming increasingly diverse. "I hope this event gives domestic institutional investors useful insights to proactively understand shifts in the global investment landscape and diversify their portfolios," he said.

KIC has also identified AI as one of its key priorities going forward. KIC President Park Il-young, announcing the corporation's 2026 new-hire recruitment plan, said he hoped new employees would "successfully take on the challenging tasks that will shape KIC's future — including TPA, AI and strategic investment accounts — and grow into the driving force that elevates Korea's national wealth and future value."

KIC operates overseas offices in New York, San Francisco, London, Singapore, Mumbai and Tokyo. Through these outposts, it shares investment information with Korean public and private financial institutions operating abroad and works to build frameworks for mutual cooperation.