Funds·Mutual Aid Deep Dive

Editor's NotePension funds and mutual aid associations have long established themselves as key players in the capital markets. Beyond their basic differences?pension funds aim to secure retirement for the public, while mutual aid associations focus on growing members' assets and expanding welfare?they also show distinct differences in asset size, investment strategy, and organizational structure. This article provides an in-depth analysis of pension funds and mutual aid associations, which serve as major sources of capital for both domestic and international institutional investors. 2022 was a year of hardship for the global financial markets. Due to interest rate hikes by major central banks and a sharp decline in stock markets, most of Korea's major pension funds and mutual aid associations posted negative returns. In contrast, the Police Mutual Aid Association recorded a positive return of 5.0% that year. It distinguished itself by defending against losses when the market was highly

Editor's NotePension funds and mutual aid associations have long established themselves as key players in the capital markets. Beyond their fundamental differences?pension funds focus on securing retirement for the public, while mutual aid associations aim to grow members' assets and expand welfare?they also show clear distinctions in asset size, investment strategy, and organizational structure. This article provides an in-depth analysis of pension funds and mutual aid associations, which serve as major funding sources for both domestic and international institutional investors. The Government Employees Pension Fund has faced a structural dilemma as the number of beneficiaries rapidly increases while premium (contribution) income remains stagnant, making profit generation through fund management a core challenge. The Government Employees Pension Service, which is responsible for securing stable pension resources for retired civil servants and addressing pension account deficits, has s

Editor's NotePension funds and mutual aid associations have long established themselves as key players in the capital market. Beyond their fundamental differences?pension funds focus on securing citizens' retirement, while mutual aid associations aim to grow members' assets and expand welfare?they also show distinct differences in asset size, investment strategies, and organizational structure. This article provides an in-depth analysis of pension funds and mutual aid associations, which serve as major sources of capital for leading institutional investors both domestically and internationally. The growth of the Military Mutual Aid Association has been rapid. Over the past five years, its average annual asset growth rate reached 12%, and last year, its assets under management hit a record high of 20 trillion won. The passage of the revised Military Mutual Aid Association Act expanded membership eligibility to include both active-duty soldiers and reservists. Coupled with the governmen

Editor's NotePension funds and mutual aid associations have long established themselves as key players in the capital markets. While pension funds focus on securing retirement for the public and mutual aid associations aim to grow members' assets and expand welfare, there are also clear differences between the two in terms of asset size, investment strategy, and organizational structure. This article provides an in-depth analysis of pension funds and mutual aid associations, which serve as major sources of capital for leading institutional investors both in Korea and abroad. The Korea Local Government Officials' Mutual Aid Association (KLGO Mutual Aid Association) invested approximately 5 billion won in May 2003 in Koramco Asset Trust's real estate investment fund, "KORAMCO CR REITs No. 3." This was the first time a domestic pension fund ventured into REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). Over five years, the association earned steady dividend income and, around Liberation Day in 200

Editor's NotePension funds and mutual aid associations have long established themselves as key players in the capital markets. Beyond their fundamental differences?pension funds securing the public's retirement and mutual aid associations focusing on asset growth and welfare for their members?they also differ significantly in terms of asset size, investment strategy, and organizational structure. We present an in-depth analysis of pension funds and mutual aid associations, which serve as major sources of capital for institutional investors both domestically and internationally. The Korea Private School Teachers’ Pension (Sahak Pension) invested approximately 70 billion won in the third blind fund managed by private equity firm H&Q in 2013, which was used for investment in JobKorea, and achieved a return nine times its principal after eight years. In 2016, it also committed capital to the Special Situation Fund (SSF) No. 1 managed by Stick Investment, which was used for an investment in

Editor's NotePension funds and mutual aid associations have long established themselves as key players in the capital market. Beyond the fundamental differences?pension funds are for securing citizens' retirement, while mutual aid associations focus on asset growth and welfare expansion for their members?they also show clear distinctions in asset size, investment strategy, and organizational structure. This article provides an in-depth analysis of pension funds and mutual aid associations, which serve as major funding sources for leading institutional investors both domestically and abroad. Unlike pension funds, mutual aid associations recruit members who join voluntarily by offering extensive welfare benefits and must retain them through higher financial asset returns. The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union stands as the role model among such mutual aid associations. Robust asset management has been a major driver of growth. The key themes in the Teachers’ Credit Union’s asset management

Editor's NotePension funds and mutual aid associations have long established themselves as core players in the capital market. Beyond their fundamental differences?pension funds focus on old-age security for citizens, while mutual aid associations aim to increase members' assets and expand welfare?they also diverge significantly in terms of asset size, investment strategy, and organizational structure. This article provides an in-depth analysis of pension funds and mutual aid associations, which serve as major sources of capital for key institutional investors both domestically and internationally. At the end of last year, political instability caused by martial law led the won-dollar exchange rate to soar to 1,486 won. This was the highest level since the 2009 global financial crisis. In response to heightened volatility in the foreign exchange market, the Bank of Korea and the National Pension Service (NPS) increased the foreign exchange swap ceiling from 50 billion dollars to 65 bi