National Pension Service Fills '2-Year Reserve' in 6 Months... H1 Earnings Reach 102 Trillion Won

Secured More Than Double Annual Insurance Premium Expenditure in 6 Months
High Returns Recorded Due to Stock Market Rally and Strong Exchange Rates
Alternative Investments Achieved 7.79% Returns Before Year-End Fair Value Assessment

During the first half of 2024, the National Pension Service achieved a return rate approaching 10% along with earnings exceeding 100 trillion won.

The Fund Management Headquarters of the National Pension Service announced on the 29th that as of the end of June 2024, the fund's return rate was 9.71%, with operating income (provisional) of 102.4 trillion won. Considering the expected annual insurance premium expenditure of 45.198 trillion won this year, this means that more than two years' worth of insurance premium expenditures were earned in just six months. Since the introduction of the National Pension system, the total accumulated earnings have reached 680.4 trillion won, and the fund reserves amount to 1,147 trillion won.

The first half asset-specific returns were 20.47% for overseas stocks, 8.61% for domestic stocks, 7.95% for overseas bonds, 7.79% for alternative investments, and 1.66% for domestic bonds. The strong performance of U.S. technology stocks, favorable returns from domestic and overseas stocks, and the rise in the KRW-USD exchange rate positively influenced overseas asset management.

In the case of domestic and overseas stocks, despite concerns over U.S. inflation, stock prices rose centered on large technology stocks, driven by expectations for artificial intelligence (AI) demand. In particular, the rise in the KRW-USD exchange rate (weakening of the Korean won) led to an operating return rate exceeding 20% for overseas stocks.

Domestic and overseas bonds saw interest rates rise due to concerns over delays in the U.S. base interest rate cuts, but overseas bonds' returns improved due to the sustained rise in the KRW-USD exchange rate.

The return rate for alternative investment assets as of the end of June reflected interest income, dividend income, and foreign exchange gains from the KRW-USD exchange rate increase, excluding asset valuation fluctuations. Fair value assessments of alternative investment assets will be conducted at the end of the year.