"If You Had Followed Just a Year Ago, You'd Be Rich... National Pension Service Earns 224 Trillion Won in One Year"

The market value of the National Pension Service's domestic stock holdings has nearly tripled over the past year, surpassing 350 trillion won. Getty Images

원본보기 아이콘

The valuation of domestic stock holdings by the National Pension Service has nearly tripled over the past year, surpassing 350 trillion won. This surge is attributed to the soaring stock prices of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, both of which are at the center of the memory super cycle.

On April 14, Leaders Index, a corporate analysis research institute, analyzed the changes in the National Pension Service's shareholdings as of April 2026 compared to the end of 2024 in 267 listed companies in which it holds and discloses more than a 5% stake.

As a result, the valuation of the National Pension Service's shareholdings in these companies jumped by 173.6% (up 22.42008 trillion won), from 12.9161 trillion won to 35.33618 trillion won (based on closing prices as of April 10). The average shareholding ratio also increased from 7.33% to 7.50% during the same period.

원본보기 아이콘

The surge in the stock prices of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix drove the sharp rise in the valuation. The National Pension Service's shareholding ratio in Samsung Electronics increased by 0.5 percentage points, from 7.3% to 7.8%. However, the value of its shareholdings soared more than fourfold, from 23.0572 trillion won to 94.788 trillion won (an increase of 71.7308 trillion won).

The valuation of SK hynix shareholdings also increased more than sixfold during the same period, from 9.5583 trillion won to 58.9906 trillion won (an increase of 49.4323 trillion won). The shareholding ratio rose from 7.6% to 8.1%.

Together, the increase in the valuation of these two stocks amounted to 121.1631 trillion won, accounting for 54% of the total increase. Essentially, the performance of large-cap semiconductor stocks has come to dominate the overall portfolio results of the National Pension Service.

By sector, steel showed the highest growth rate in shareholding value. The number of steel companies in which the National Pension Service holds more than a 5% stake increased from 6 to 9. Although the average shareholding ratio decreased from 7.0% to 6.5%, the valuation of its shareholdings jumped more than fivefold, from 471.4 billion won to 2.835 trillion won, due to the rising stock values of companies such as Korea Zinc and Hyundai Steel.

The valuation of shareholdings in the securities sector also more than tripled, from 1.6048 trillion won to 7.0707 trillion won. The value of shareholdings in the shipbuilding and defense sector followed, increasing more than 2.3 times, from 9.4709 trillion won to 31.6666 trillion won.

The number of companies in which the National Pension Service holds more than a 10% stake increased by one, from 38 at the end of 2024 to 39. Of these, 20 companies maintained their double-digit shareholding ratios, while 19 newly exceeded the 10% threshold.

Currently, the National Pension Service is the largest shareholder in six companies: Hansol Chemical (12.7%), Shinhan Financial Group (9.2%), KB Financial Group (8.9%), POSCO Holdings (8.1%), Naver (9.2%), and Hana Financial Group (8.7%).

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.