Nps to Seek More Int'l Partnerships

National Pension Service (NPS) Chairman Jun Kwang-woo said Monday that the agency will focus more on overseas investments by diversifying funding channels and strengthening partnerships with industry leaders.

“We will keep expanding our global network. We will also increase strategic joint investments for greater synergy with leading global financial institutes as well as local ones,” June told The Korea Times. “Given the fast growing assets in the National Pension Fund (NPF), it is now critical to work with global players.”

In this regard, he attributed the recent success of the NPS to diversified investments in overseas markets.

The fund’s return on investments stood at 6.99 percent last year, up from 2.31 percent the previous year, with 24.9 trillion won in profits, according to the NPF management committee.

The fund held total assets of 391.9 trillion won last year, up 12.4 percent from the previous year.

Local bonds account for 60.2 percent of the NPS's combined assets, followed by domestic shares with 18.7 percent. Overseas stocks and bonds take up 8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.

The NPF is the fourth-largest fund among major pension funds in the world, just behind ABP, the pension fund for government and education employees in the Netherlands with 395 trillion won.

As of the end of last year, the total for pension contributions stood at 30.1 trillion won while payments totaled 11.5 trillion won. The amount of debt stood at 956.7 billion won.

The former chairman of the Financial Services Commission described NPS as a whale that should leave its small pond.

“A big whale will die in a small pond, and the pond will be also destroyed due to the whale. Given the current pace at which the assets are accumulated, the NPS should seek a way...