Six-Way Race for National Pension Fund Management Headquarters Chief Investment Officer (CIO)... Interviews Scheduled for Early Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] The number of candidates for the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the National Pension Service's Fund Management Headquarters has been narrowed down to six.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 30th, the National Pension Executive Recommendation Committee evaluated a total of 18 applicants based on experience, job suitability, and management ability, and last week selected and notified six candidates for interviews. The interviews will take place early next month.

The candidates identified so far for the interview include Park Dae-yang, former CIO of Korea Investment Corporation (KIC); Seo Won-joo, former CIO of the Government Employees Pension Service; Lee Chang-hoon, former CIO of the Government Employees Pension Service; Yeom Jae-hyun, Head of Global Operations at Koreit Asset Management; and Yang Young-sik, CEO of Stick Alternative Asset Management.

After the interviews, the National Pension Executive Recommendation Committee will conduct personnel verification such as reputation and background checks on these candidates. Considering the period for shortlisting the final candidates after the interviews early this month, a new CIO is expected to be appointed early next year.

Meanwhile, according to the National Pension Fund Management Headquarters disclosure, as of the end of September this year, the overall return rate of the National Pension Fund was tentatively calculated at -7.06%. This is a 2.23 percentage point decrease compared to the return rate at the end of August (-4.74%). By asset class based on money-weighted return rates, domestic stocks recorded -25.47%, foreign stocks -9.52%, and domestic bonds -7.53%. On the other hand, alternative investments and foreign bonds recorded 16.24% and 6.01%, respectively.