June 2019

14Jun

South Korea’s Pension Fund to Adopt New Hiring Policy Amid Staff Exodus

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has reportedly decided to introduce a new hiring policy for its portfolio managers. According to the new policy, one of the largest pension funds in the world now wants to hire fresh talents and nurture them instead of hiring experienced managers as it currently does. To date, the NPS has hired only experienced professionals for portfolio manager positions. Since the pension manages massive assets — about 675 trillion South Korean won ($571 billion)...

June 14, 2019
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March 2019

25Mar

How Korean pension service can be saved

The South Korean National Pension Service (NPS) is the third-largest national pension fund in the world with US$560 billion in assets. It was founded in 1988 to ensure that all South Koreans after retirement would have a stable source of income. Currently, a certain amount of money is automatically deducted from the salaries of employees and employers as a contribution to the NPS by law. However, many Koreans worry that the NPS will run out of funds in the...

March 25, 2019
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December 2018

21Dec

Korea Proposes Pension Reform

The world’s third-largest pension fund is in jeopardy of being depleted by 2057. The South Korean government has unveiled proposals to help reform the country’s pension system, as an aging population combined with record-low birth rates threatens to deplete South Korea’s $578.7 billion National Pension Fund by 2057. The country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare announced four proposals to maintain a balance between reinforcing recipients’ benefits and securing the fund’s stability, according to the Korea Herald. “The national pension...

December 21, 2018
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14Dec

S.Korea says pension fund to boost investment in risk assets

South Korea on Friday said its National Pension Fund, the world’s third-largest, would aim to boost its ratio of risk assets, such as stocks and real estate, to 60 percent over time from 50 percent now, as it looks to lift investment returns. The fund, which managed assets of 654 trillion won ($578.77 billion) by the end of September, will also aim to boost the ratio of overseas investment to about 45 percent from 30 percent now. The steps are part...

December 14, 2018
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October 2018

05Oct

Two Korean pension funds to boycott coal finance

Korea’s Teachers’ Pension and Government Employees Pension System announced they will not consider financing any new coal-fired power plants, becoming the first Korean financial institutions to boycott coal financing amid the global movement to tackle climate change and air pollution problems. Although the two hold no history of having invested in coal projects in the past, their refusal to participate in any future projects can be a catalyst for other institutions to follow suit, according to environmental activists. In Korea, the...

October 5, 2018
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March 2018

11Mar

Causes and Characteristics of Population Aging

By Kyounghoon Park (The Bank of Korea) Korea’s level of population aging remains lower than the OECD average. However, the pace of population aging in Korea is faster than that of many other member countries, as its total fertility rate is the lowest among OECD countries while its life expectancy exceeds the OECD average. Using panel data from OECD member countries, this paper divides the common causes of population aging in OECD countries into declining fertility rate and increasing life...

March 11, 2018
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February 2018

12Feb

The Effect of Income on Subjective Well-Being in Later Life: A Case Study of a Government Pension in South Korea

By Erin Hye-Won Kim (National University of Singapore (NUS) - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy) Objectives. Despite keen interest among scholars and policy makers, little is known about whether income affects subjective well-being (SWB) in later life, a notoriously difficult question to answer, given the empirical challenge of isolating the effect of income from correlated influences and the possibility of reverse causality. This paper examines the effects of the 2008 introduction of the Basic Old-Age Pension, a noncontributory...

February 12, 2018
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November 2017

28Nov

S. Korea. State pension fund grows sharply over 30 years

South Korea's state-run pension fund has posted exponential growth since its inception about 30 years ago, but it still has a long way to go in order to serve its intended purpose, analysts said Tuesday. South Korea adopted the state pension program in 1988 to guarantee income for the elderly after retirement, and to provide coverage for disabilities and surviving family members. According to data from the National Pension Service, the number of subscribers to the National Pension Fund came to...

November 28, 2017
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October 2017

30Oct

Nobel laureates discuss ageing in Seoul

Around 30 world-leading scientists, thinkers and opinion leaders, including five Nobel laureates, gathered in Seoul for an international forum on aging. Under the theme of “The Age to Come,” the Nobel Prize Dialogue kicked off its three-day run at Seoul’s Coex on Monday. Packed with lectures and panel discussions on issues surrounding aging, the event is part of the annual Nobel Week Dialogue organized by Nobel Media and the Nobel Center Foundation. The main one-day program is slated for Dec. 9...

October 30, 2017
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September 2017

11Sep

Korea’s Stubborn Leviathan

Sentencing the billionaire leader of South Korea's largest and most powerful company, Samsung Electronics Co., to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement sent a strong signal the country might finally push through long-promised corporate reform. But if Korea really wants to clean up the overly cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship between the government and large family-owned business groups, known as chaebol, it will have to look inward to its own national pension fund. Since most workers must contribute...

September 11, 2017
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