National Pension Service Holds 140 Billion KRW in SVB Stocks and Bonds Excluded from Protection

As of the end of last year, the National Pension Service (NPS) was found to hold a total of 138.9 billion KRW worth of stocks and bonds of the U.S. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

According to the "National Pension Service Silicon Valley Bank Investment Status Explanation" submitted by the NPS to the office of Choi Hye-young of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 15th, the NPS held 121.8 billion KRW worth of SVB Financial Group stocks as of the end of last year.

Direct investments accounted for 29.4 billion KRW, and entrusted investments were about 92.3 billion KRW.

The NPS explained to the lawmaker's office, "During 2022, the investment share in entrusted investments has been continuously reduced, so the overall holding stake has been steadily decreasing."

It also added, "Due to the trading suspension measures on March 10, short-term responses such as sales are not possible," and "If trading resumes depending on third-party acquisition and U.S. government measures, we will decide whether to sell or hold by reviewing the conditions of the third-party acquisition."

As of the end of last year, the NPS also held 17.1 billion KRW worth of SVB Financial Group bonds, but only through entrusted investments, not direct holdings.

The NPS stated, "The entrusted asset manager sold part of the exposure shortly before the bank closure decision on the 10th," and "Due to the downgrade of SVB Financial Group's credit rating, we completed the sale instruction to the asset manager on the 13th in accordance with the management regulations."

It added, "We plan to closely monitor the progress of sales of the remaining holdings directly."

Earlier, the U.S. government announced that it would guarantee all deposits after SVB's bankruptcy, but securities such as stocks and bonds were excluded from protection.

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