National Pension Service Appoints Former Government Employees Pension CIO Seowonju as New Fund Director (Comprehensive)

Samsung Life, PCA Life, and Government Employees Pension Fund as Experienced Investment Experts
Challenges Include Stewardship Code Compliance and Improving Governance of Invested Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] The National Pension Service (NPS) appointed Seowonju, former Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the Government Employees Pension Service, as the new Fund Director (Head of Fund Management Headquarters·CIO) on the 27th.

The term of the Fund Director is two years, and they will manage the National Pension Fund representing the NPS Fund Management Headquarters. The new Fund Director, Seo, is the ninth head of the Fund Management Headquarters since its establishment in 1999.

Born in 1965, Seowonju graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Business Administration and began his investment career through Samsung Life Insurance's open recruitment. He was responsible for overseas investments at Samsung Life Insurance’s New York and Singapore branches.

He served as the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of PCA Life Insurance (now Mirae Asset Life Insurance) and completed a two-year term as CIO of the Government Employees Pension Service starting in 2019. Due to his recognized performance, he succeeded in a one-year extension. Consequently, following the Government Employees Pension Service and the Public Officials Benefit Association, the National Pension Fund also appointed a Samsung Life Insurance alumnus to oversee investments.

Before Seo’s appointment, the Government Employees Pension Service recorded a -2.7% return. After his appointment, the situation changed. In his first year in 2019, the return was 9.56%, followed by 11.41% in 2020 and 9.70% in 2021, marking impressive performance even considering market fluctuations. During his tenure, he expanded alternative investments and adopted a strategy of diversified investments in venture capital, overseas private equity funds (PEF), and overseas infrastructure. His experience managing overseas investments and alternative asset classes through private insurers and public pensions was highly evaluated.

The new Fund Director Seo must not only reaffirm his investment expertise but also play a role in adhering to the stewardship code, which is a social responsibility of the National Pension Fund. He also faces the challenge of minimizing controversies that may arise during this process.

Kim Taehyun, Chairman of the National Pension Service, emphasized that he would urge the new head to improve corporate governance in widely held companies invested in by the NPS, such as KT and financial holding companies. Internally, the Fund Management Headquarters faces the task of organizational management to prevent the increasing departure of investment experts following the relocation to Jeonju.

In the earlier public recruitment, besides former Director Seo, Park Cheonseok, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Saemaeul Geumgo; Yang Youngsik, CEO of Stick Alternative Asset Management; Park Daeyang, former CIO of Korea Investment Corporation (KIC); Lee Changhoon, former CIO of the Government Employees Pension Service; and Yeom Jaehyun, Head of Global Operations at Koreit Asset Management, participated in the final interview.