Blog

DEEP RESEARCH · INBODY · ACTIVISM

InBody: Align Partners Holds a 3.75% Stake

Activist money rotates out of bank stocks into medical devices — a quick read on InBody's shareholder shift

Date: 2025-05-07 · Activist fund disclosure angle · Yonhap Infomax & G9 Inside reporting

All investment decisions are your own responsibility. This is research, not a buy or sell recommendation.

0. Bottom line first

Korea's leading activist fund, Align Partners, is disclosed as holding a 3.75% stake in body-composition analyzer maker InBody (041830). Around the same period the fund reportedly trimmed its KB, Shinhan and Hana Financial positions heavily — suggesting a rotation from banks into mid- and small-cap value names, especially medical devices.

Yonhap Infomax article thumbnail — Align Partners holds 3.75% in InBody

1. Disclosure and press facts

Official fact: Per a Korea Exchange voting-rights disclosure, Align Partners Asset Management held a 3.75% stake in InBody as of year-end 2024. (Source: Yonhap Infomax)

Official fact: The same reporting cluster says Align materially reduced positions in KB, Shinhan and Hana Financial; the firm's website portfolio now shows only JB Financial and Woori Financial among banks. New buys named include Stic Investments, InBody, and Gabia. (Source: G9 Inside)

2. Visualizing the flow

Align Partners portfolio rebalance2023 bank-stock campaign → 2025 rotation into medical devices & small caps
SoldKB / Shinhan / Hana Financial
HeldJB Financial / Woori Financial
New buysStic Investments / Gabia
3.75% stakeInBody (041830)
Capital flow showing where the value-up campaign goes next
G9 Inside article thumbnail — Align sells bank stocks and buys InBody, Gabia, Stic

3. Comparison — old stage vs. new stage

2023

Bank-stock campaign

Pressure on financial holdings for higher returns to shareholders; trimmed after a strong run.

2025

Medical device — InBody

A cash-rich, cash-flow-stable small-cap signals that this kind of name is now on the activist radar.

Cluster

Stic & Gabia

Stic Investments and Gabia were named alongside InBody — expansion into asset management and IT infrastructure.

4. Interpretation

Interpretation: The pattern looks like the fund harvesting gains where the work has already paid off (banks) and rotating into mid/small-cap value names where capital-policy levers could still be pulled. InBody — with stable cash flow and a conservative balance sheet — fits the activist menu of pushing for stronger shareholder returns.

Interpretation: That said, 3.75% alone is not enough to swing a vote. Watch for further accumulation (the 5% rule threshold), public letters or campaign announcements, and any coordinated action with other institutions.

5. Checkpoints

  • Further stake-change filings (does it cross the 5% disclosure line?)
  • InBody's own capital policy moves — buybacks, dividends, treasury stock
  • Follow-on campaign moves around Stic and Gabia

One line: Activist capital that left the banks is rotating into medical devices and small-cap value — and one of the new seats is InBody.

Sources