"National Pension Fund Net Assets 948.7 Trillion Won... Last Year's Return Rate 10.77%"

On the 25th, the 1st National Pension Fund Management Committee meeting of 2022 was held at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] On the 25th, Kwon Deok-cheol, Minister of Health and Welfare, stated in the opening remarks at the 1st National Pension Fund Management Committee meeting of 2022 held at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul that "According to the 2021 National Pension Fund settlement results, the National Pension Fund's net assets amounted to 948.7 trillion KRW, an increase of approximately 115 trillion KRW compared to 2020."

The fund's operating return rate recorded a provisional 10.77%. Following 11.3% in 2019 and 9.7% in 2020, it achieved a high average return rate of 10.57% over the past three years. High returns were recorded in overseas stocks (29.5%) and alternative investments (23.8%), driving the fund's operational performance. Specifically, domestic stocks recorded 6.7%, domestic bonds -1.3%, and overseas bonds 7.1%.

Minister Kwon explained, "The 2021 fund operating income was provisionally 91.2 trillion KRW, which corresponds to about 1.7 years of National Pension insurance premium income (53.5 trillion KRW) and about 3.1 years of pension benefit payments (29.1 trillion KRW) for the same year."

Minister Kwon mentioned, "Since the establishment of the National Pension Fund in 1988, the cumulative operating income of the fund until the end of 2021 totaled 530.8 trillion KRW, accounting for 56% of the fund's net assets of 948.7 trillion KRW at the end of 2021."

The size of the fund increased from 558.3 trillion KRW at the end of 2016 to 948.7 trillion KRW at the end of 2021, nearly a 70% increase over the past five years. The income over the past three years was 236.8 trillion KRW, which accounts for about 45% of the total cumulative income of 530.8 trillion KRW.

Minister Kwon evaluated this as "a valuable achievement attained through proactive crisis response strategies, investment diversification, and portfolio adjustments amid difficult domestic and international conditions caused by the COVID-19 shock."

He also stated, "Since the beginning of the new year, the financial environment has seen increased uncertainty due to rising inflation and concerns over changes in major countries' monetary policies, resulting in rising government bond yields and expanded stock market volatility," adding, "due to increased economic instability such as the rise in household debt burden caused by interest rate hikes, disruptions in global trade supply chains, and international political instability, we must closely monitor and respond to the changed investment conditions."

Meanwhile, on this day, the Fund Management Committee is scheduled to discuss not only the 2021 National Pension Fund settlement (draft) but also the adjustment of the target range for delegated alternative investments of the National Pension Fund (draft), and revisions to guidelines on fiduciary responsibility activities (draft), among other matters.

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