Koramco REITs Management and Trust, established in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis to help Korean companies restructure their real estate holdings, has grown into a leading real estate investment manager with 60 trillion won ($45.3 billion) in assets under management. The company said Friday that it held a ceremony marking its 25th anniversary, as it seeks to expand overseas and strengthen its position in Korea's real estate investment market. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Korean companies faced pressure to sell property assets to shore up their balance sheets, but the country lacked the investors and financial infrastructure needed to absorb large-scale real estate sales. To facilitate the transactions and stabilize the market, the government enacted the Real Estate Investment Company Act in 2001. Koramco was established in October that year as Korea's first real estate investment trust (REIT) asset management company. Since then, Koramco has helped develop Korea's real estate finance market, expanding beyond restructuring-focused REITs into listed REITs, real es