July 2022
21Jul

South Korea huge pension fund a local force driving won lower

South Korea's strenuous attempts to defend a sharply weakening currency have run into an unstoppable home-made force working in the opposite direction: the national pension fund. The National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third-largest such fund, has a hefty and growing appetite for equity and bond investment abroad, which it can feed only by selling won for foreign currency. It made net purchases of about $10 billion of foreign bonds and stocks in the first five months of 2022, central bank...

July 21, 2022
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June 2022
30Jun

South Korea’s pension fund carried out rare FX hedging this month

South Korea's National Pension Service sold a small amount of dollars on the forward market this month in its first foreign exchange hedging since early 2020, an official at the agency told Reuters on Thursday. The official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, did not disclose any more details such as the timing of the sale and amounts involved. The agency held a combined 312.3 trillion won ($240.21 billion) worth of foreign stocks and bonds...

June 30, 2022
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22Jun

South Korea saw biggest natural population decline for the month of April

The number of deaths in South Korea recorded in April rose to an all-time high for that month. According to Statistics Korea, in April, there were almost 37-thousand deaths, which was a whopping 46.3 percent increase from a year earlier. As for the number of births, it was the 77th month in a row almost six-and-a-half years straight that the number of babies born has declined. Births came in at a little over 21-thousand, which was down 7 percent from a year...

June 22, 2022
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May 2022
26May

Korea Investment Corp. reports 9.13% gain for 2021

Korea Investment Corporation, the Seoul-based sovereign wealth fund, reported a 9.13% investment gain for 2021 on the back of strong equity market returns, ending the year with its portfolio valued at $205 billion. A KIC news release Thursday credited "solid performance and continued asset entrustments by the government" for lifting the fund's portfolio above the $200 billion mark for the first time. A KIC spokeswoman declined to provide details regarding government infusions to the fund over the past year. But a...

May 26, 2022
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November 2021
22Nov

Move to hinterland triggers brain drain at Korea’s mega pension fund

Earlier this year, Lee left her fund management job at South Korea's national pension fund, the world's third-largest, fed up with long commutes between her home in Seoul and her office in Jeonju, 200 kilometers away. For four years, Lee lived in a studio apartment in Jeonju, a city of 658,000, on weekdays, and traveled back to Seoul for the weekend. She feared her family would break up if she didn't make the hard decision to quit. Lee is one of...

November 22, 2021
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16Nov

Experts Concerned About Senior Poverty in S. Korea as Aging Society Takes Speed

Experts are increasingly concerned over the issue of senior poverty caused by a lack of pension programs and other senior welfare policies as South Korea is becoming an aging society at twice the speed of Japan. The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) conducted a survey of 500 senior respondents over 65 years of age from South Korea and Japan, which showed that fewer South Korean seniors receive pensions than their Japanese counterparts. Read also Bangladesh. Guardian Life launches “Ajibon Pension Plan”...

November 16, 2021
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October 2021
27Oct

South Korean pension fund to invest in Bitcoin ETF: Report

South Korea’s public pension fund, the Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU), is reportedly looking to gain exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) via a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF). Read also UK. PensionBee Partners with Plaid to Leverage Open Banking KTCU, one of the largest institutional investors in South Korea, is considering investing in a pure Bitcoin ETF or Bitcoin-linked ETFs in the first half of 2022, local news agency The Korea Economic Daily reported Monday. Read also US Public Pension Fund Invests In Bitcoin...

October 27, 2021
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September 2021
29Sep

16.5% of S. Korea’s population aged 65 and older in 2021: report

People aged 65 and older made up 16.5 percent of South Korea's population this year, a report showed Wednesday, highlighting concerns that the fast-aging demographic transition could pose a drag on the country's economy. According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of people aged 65 and older stood at 8.53 million this year. The South Korean population is projected to peak in 2028 before going on a downward curve, the report showed. However, the graying of South Korea will accelerate,...

September 29, 2021
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13Sep

Korea’s aging population to sap fiscal health: Fitch

The fast-paced aging of South Korea’s population is likely to undermine the fiscal health of Asia’s fourth-largest economy in the long run amid soaring debt, credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings said Monday. The aging population, coupled with a declining fertility rate of fewer than one child per woman, could leave Korea exposed to higher risks as rising government spending could become a less effective means of boosting nationwide productivity. Read also Australia. Most vulnerable excluded from Disability Support Pension Fitch urged Korea...

September 13, 2021
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06Sep

South Korea. State pensions face mounting calls for reform

Calls are expected to grow for the reform of four state-run pension funds, as nearly 60 trillion won ($51 billion) will be allocated for public spending next year, up 6.2 percent from this year's 55.8 trillion won. The year-on-year increase will require a greater amount of taxpayers' money to slow the hemorrhaging of the funds, as a rapidly aging society and overall decrease in labor productivity cause government welfare expenditures to snowball. Mandatory spending by law cannot be curbed unless a...

September 6, 2021
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