Last Year's National Pension Fund Management Headquarters Performance Bonus Rate Set at 36.5%, Down from Previous Year

The 4th Fund Management Committee Meeting Held
Return Exceeded 15% but Fell Short of Benchmark

The performance bonus rate for the National Pension Fund Management Headquarters last year was finalized at 36.5% (based on base salary). Although the fund's investment return for the year reached its highest level since 2000, the rate was slightly lower than the previous year because it fell short of the benchmark return.

Yonhap News

On July 4, the National Pension Fund Management Committee (the Committee) held its fourth meeting of 2025 and reviewed and approved the "2024 National Pension Fund Management Performance Evaluation Plan" and the "2024 National Pension Fund Management Headquarters Performance Bonus Rate Plan."

The investment return of the National Pension Fund last year was finalized at 15.32% (time-weighted return). This figure is higher than the returns of major overseas pension funds during the same period, such as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) at 14.2%, and Norway's Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) at 13.1%. However, it was 0.23 percentage points below the benchmark (15.54%), which represents the average performance of each asset class's respective market.

By asset class, the returns were: domestic equities -6.96%, overseas equities 34.55%, domestic bonds 5.47%, overseas bonds 17.65%, and alternative investments 17.2%. The Committee explained, "Due to interest rate cuts in major countries and a rise in global stock markets led by technology stocks, high returns were achieved in overseas equities, overseas bonds, and alternative investments."

As a result, the performance bonus rate for the National Pension Fund Management Headquarters last year was 36.5%, a decrease of 3.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. The performance bonus is calculated by reflecting the investment performance over the past three years (excess return over the benchmark) in a 5:3:2 ratio.

The Committee urged, "We ask the Fund Management Headquarters to continue making efforts to respond swiftly to the highly uncertain global financial markets and to achieve stable performance."