Fortress Investment Group has appointed Thomas Chan-Soo Kang as president, Fortress Asia.
Kang will become a member of Fortress’s management committee and will have responsibility for business development, capital formation, strategy and management/administration in the Asia region.
Kang will be based in Fortress’s newly opened Singapore office, and will report directly to Fortress chief executive Daniel Mudd.
“Tom’s role underscores our deep commitment to the region and will support the continued strategic expansion of our Asia business,” says Mudd. “Tom brings an exceptional depth of experience to our team, including building and running major investment companies and establishing one of Korea’s first domestic private equity funds. I am confident that Tom’s contributions will help us achieve our objectives of bringing more Fortress capabilities to a growing base of investors in Asia and capitalizing on the exceptional investment opportunities we see in the region.”
Kang has over 25 years of experience in the investment management industry, and served most recently as chief executive of Kang & Company, an investment firm.
Prior to founding Kang & Company, he served as chairman and chief executive of Seoul Securities, a Korea-based investment firm that was majority-owned by Soros Fund Management.
Before joining Seoul Securities, Kang served as a managing director at BT Wolfensohn, where he specialised in mergers and acquisitions, focusing on financial services companies.
He also served as a member of the boards of SK Holdings, KB Financial Group and the Bloomberg Asia-Pacific Advisory Board.