Due to Last Year's Stock Boom... National Pension Service Achieves 9.58% Return

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Sunhee] Last year, as the stock market boomed, the returns on major social insurance funds expanded.

According to the '2021 Fund Evaluation Results' announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 25th, the mid- to long-term asset returns of five social insurance funds last year were 11.05%, showing improvement compared to the previous year's return of 9.16%. The social insurance funds included the Government Employees Pension Fund, Employment Insurance Fund, Private School Teachers’ Pension Fund, Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance and Prevention Fund, and Military Pension Fund.

The largest fund, the National Pension Fund, posted a return of 9.58% last year. Although this was slightly lower than the 2019 return of 11.34%, it achieved profits reaching 70 trillion won for two consecutive years. It received a 'Good' rating for two consecutive years due to enhanced professionalism such as the legalization of three specialized committees (Fiduciary Responsibility Committee, Investment Policy Committee, Risk Management and Performance Compensation Committee) and the advancement of operational strategies including the introduction of a reference portfolio.

The asset management performance of all 41 funds included in this year’s evaluation recorded 9.19%. Among them, 38 funds received a rating of 'Good' or higher. The Small and Medium Venture Business Startup and Promotion Fund was the only one to receive an 'Excellent' rating. The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "Despite the COVID-19 crisis, we achieved favorable returns through active asset management in response to the booming asset market."

Out of a total of 490 fund projects, 25 projects were recommended for abolition or improvement. In particular, the Private School Promotion Fund’s Private University Lecturer Treatment Improvement Loan Project, which had an execution rate of only 1.4%, and the Employment Insurance Fund’s Job Together Facility Investment Loan (execution rate 57.1%) were recommended for abolition.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance reported the results of the 2020 fiscal year fund asset management evaluation and retention evaluation to the Cabinet meeting on the same day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.