In the first quarter of this year, the National Pension Fund's management revenue recorded 0.87%. It seems to have held up well despite the recent stock market downturns caused by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war.
The National Pension Fund Management Headquarters announced on the 30th that the fund's operating revenue, including domestic and foreign stocks, bonds, and alternative investment revenue, reached 10.61 trillion won, with a revenue rate of 0.87% (preliminary, money-weighted revenue rate).
By asset type, domestic stocks recorded 4.97%, while foreign stocks showed -1.56%. The annual domestic stock revenue rate for 2024 was 3.4%, and the foreign stock revenue rate was -1.02%. Although investment sentiment was dampened by the effects of the Trump administration's tariff war, the National Pension's revenue outperformed the index.
The fund management headquarters stated regarding domestic stocks, "Despite global uncertainties, favorable conditions such as undervalued stock attractiveness and solid supply and demand contributed to a strong performance," and noted that "it contributed to defending the overall fund revenue."
In the first quarter, domestic bonds showed a revenue rate of 2.03%, while foreign bonds recorded 1.05%. The fund management headquarters remarked that "the market interest rates for domestic and foreign bonds fell due to uncertainties in U.S. policy and concerns over economic slowdown," adding that "especially domestic bonds saw lower interest rates thanks to the Bank of Korea's rate cut in February, which contributed to good bond investment revenues."
The revenue rate for alternative investments was 1.32%. The National Pension stated, "Alternative investments reflected revenues earned from interest and dividends, as well as foreign exchange differences arising from fluctuations in the won/dollar exchange rate in the profit and loss."
As of the first quarter of this year, the National Pension Fund's reserves reached 1,226.8 trillion won. Specifically, domestic stocks amounted to 159.9 trillion won, foreign stocks to 431.4 trillion won, domestic bonds to 338.6 trillion won, foreign bonds to 90 trillion won, alternative investments to 213.6 trillion won, and short-term funds to 18 trillion won.
When the National Pension was launched in January 1988, the fund reserves were at the level of 530 billion won. This amount surpassed 100 trillion won in 2003, 200 trillion won in 2007, and 300 trillion won in 2010. Since then, it has increased annually to 427 trillion won in 2013, 621 trillion won in 2017, and 1,036 trillion won in 2023.
Kim Tae-hyun, chairman of the National Pension Service, noted that "this year, the global investment environment centered around the U.S. is challenging," adding that "the National Pension will continue to diversify investments to achieve both revenue and stability as a long-term investor managing the public's retirement funds."