Hanwha Asset Management announced on November 5 that it held the "2025 Hanwha Asset Management Retirement Pension Seminar" on November 4 at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul, attended by more than 80 participants including retirement pension providers and corporate defined benefit (DB) managers.
The seminar was organized to proactively present strategies and visions for responding to the fund-type retirement pension system, as social discussions on its introduction have begun in earnest, ahead of the rest of the industry.
The fund-type retirement pension system is designed to consolidate retirement pensions, which are currently managed separately by each company, into a single integrated fund. This approach aims to strengthen economies of scale, expertise, and governance efficiency. It is expected to contribute to improving the returns and stability of domestic retirement pensions.
Hanwha Asset Management is currently reviewing the establishment of a dedicated retirement pension asset management company system to ensure the long-term, stable, and efficient management of funds. The company is also collaborating with WTW, a global leader in retirement pension services. WTW is an institution that operates LifeSight, the United Kingdom's first integrated fund to receive regulatory approval from financial authorities.
Bok Jaein, Head of Investment for Asia at WTW and a keynote speaker, introduced the integrated fund structure and investment management process in the UK. He also provided specific insights into the design direction of Korea's fund-type model.
He emphasized that the experiences of advanced overseas funds-such as establishing professional governance centered on independent boards, implementing rigorous risk management systems, and reducing costs through economies of scale to improve long-term returns and protect subscribers' interests-offer important lessons for the introduction of Korea's dedicated retirement pension asset management company system.
Professor Sung Juho of Kyung Hee University analyzed the current state of domestic retirement pensions and global trends, and proposed a direction for a Korean-style fund model. Professor Sung explained, "For the first time in 20 years since the introduction of the retirement pension system, a joint labor-management-government task force has been formed, and the fund-type system has been selected as a key agenda item. Through serious discussions across all sectors, I expect this reform will not simply change the system, but will serve as a paradigm shift in securing retirement for the public."
He added, "The core of establishing a competitive fund is selecting a dedicated retirement pension asset management company with specialized management capabilities and governance. In the Korean-style integrated fund model, the dedicated asset management company is likely to play an expanded role, including making top-level investment decisions through various committees."
He further stressed, "To secure global competitiveness by advancing the asset management industry, introducing an integrated management approach centered on financial institutions and establishing specialized pension asset management companies are key elements for the success of the Korean model."
Kim Joungho, CEO of Hanwha Asset Management, stated, "A pension is not simply an asset for retirement, but a core system that determines the quality of life for future generations. With insights and experience from academic and industry experts, we will be able to further clarify the direction of the Korean-style fund-type retirement pension model."
In June of this year, Hanwha Asset Management surpassed 1 trillion won in assets under management (AUM) for its privately placed DB retirement pension funds, demonstrating its competitiveness in the retirement pension sector. Since the end of 2023, when the company began to focus on the DB retirement pension business in earnest, it has achieved approximately 800% growth. During the same period, the DB retirement pension performance-based market grew by about 60%. Hanwha Asset Management provides differentiated DB reserve management solutions through customized consulting for each company.
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