This article was first published on Signal, the Seoul Economic Daily’s capital markets newsletter, at 3:41 p.m. on March 29, 2026.
A growing number of investment firms are deploying artificial intelligence across the entire investment process, dramatically altering how they source deals and manage portfolios. By leveraging AI for early-stage research and valuation tasks, which previously required extensive teams, these firms are enhancing operational efficiency. As investment professionals are freed from repetitive duties, they can focus more on vetting potential targets and managing existing portfolio companies, which drives increased automation throughout the sector.
MBK Partners, a prominent private equity fund operator, has developed team-specific “custom agents” tailored to each unit’s workflow, according to sources within the investment banking industry. Individual teams, focusing on various sectors and using distinct datasets, have their dedicated agents trained on past projects and materials. These agents facilitate initial research, investment due diligence, and analytical verification.
Other players in the market, such as IMM Private Equity and IMM Investment, are similarly embracing AI technologies. Last year, IMM integrated its proprietary AI with its internal database to maximize the efficiency of its accumulated data. The firm has since updated the AI model and automated a considerable portion of previously repetitive tasks, including the management of its portfolio companies.
Global private equity firms are pursuing AI integration with increasing urgency. For instance, Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity operator, has formed a joint venture with Anthropic, the maker of the AI model Claude, to implement Claude across its portfolio. In 2024, Sweden’s EQT Partners began utilizing AI throughout its investment processes. Furthermore, Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, has recently introduced AI to its key investment committee responsible for decision-making.
Despite the rising trend of proprietary AI models, firms face challenges regarding the rapid improvement of general-purpose models. Many large domestic private equity operators maintain custom agents with closed-network architectures to ensure information security. However, as the quality of general-purpose business-to-business services like Anthropic’s Claude improves significantly, the necessity for continual investment in custom agents is being questioned. “We have maintained custom agents for information security and task specialization, but the maintenance costs are substantial,” commented an industry official. “Claude’s performance is so strong, and Anthropic offers B2B services with information security in mind, so we are considering switching models.”
While AI adoption within Korea’s investment industry is on the rise, it is not leading to widespread staff reductions. This contrasts with some large domestic accounting and law firms that have cut junior hiring as a result of advancing AI capabilities. Private equity fund operators, characterized by small elite teams, primarily employ AI to streamline repetitive tasks, allowing investment professionals to concentrate on higher-level decisions and networking opportunities.
“For now, we are using AI as a supplementary tool to expand the speed and scope of research and to enhance the precision and rigor of analysis, rather than as a substitute for investment decision-making,” stated an official at a domestic private equity fund operator. “That said, we see a high likelihood that its scope of use will expand as the technology continues to advance.”
See also
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