(May 28, 2026) Pension Future Forum Statement on the National Pension Rebalancing
(The decision to defer the National Pension Fund rebalancing
is strongly condemned in
the Pension Future Forum's
May 28, 2026
statement, which we hereby publish.)
(May 28, 2026.
For immediate release.)
Pension Future Forum Emergency Statement
"Further Raising the National Pension's Domestic Equity Allocation, a Decision That Increases the Risk to Long-Term Retirement Savings, Must Be Halted!"
Ahead of the convening of the National Pension Fund Management Committee, the Pension Future Forum expresses deep concern regarding the discussion, raised in certain quarters of late, of a further increase in the domestic equity investment ratio.
At a meeting early this year, held on a schedule brought forward from that of previous years, the Fund Management Committee has already lowered the target allocation to overseas equities and, in its place, revised the target allocation to domestic equities upward.
To consider, yet again, a further increase in the domestic equity allocation solely on the ground that a short-term surge in the KOSPI has pushed the actual domestic equity allocation well above its target
is an act of self-repudiation that shakes, at will and to suit market conditions, the asset allocation principles the Committee itself established, and an act that undermines the principles governing the management of the public's retirement assets.
The heart of the problem is that it remains unclear whether raising the domestic equity allocation is a strategic choice grounded in financial projections and long-term return and risk analysis, or an expedient adopted to avoid the immediate burden of selling.
If the logic of "selling now would be awkward, so we will not sell, even if that means changing the standard" becomes the real motive for adjusting the ratio, this collides head-on with the basic philosophy of public pension management.
The Pension Future Forum has already pointed out on numerous occasions the danger of the National Pension being turned into a policy instrument.
In the process by which the government and the Fund Management Committee finalized a portfolio adjustment in the direction of reducing the overseas equity allocation and raising the domestic equity allocation, no specific scenarios, comparisons of alternatives, or risk analyses were disclosed,
and despite requests for data from the National Assembly and the press, the controversy over "black-box" fund management continues.
If, in these circumstances, an attempt is made once again to raise the domestic equity allocation further, it will be difficult to avoid the suspicion that the National Pension is being used as a convenient instrument for cushioning volatility in the domestic stock market, for managing share prices, or for defending the exchange rate.
Should the domestic stock market undergo a correction in the future, those losses will inevitably be borne in full by the future generations of pension beneficiaries.
Taking into account the weight the domestic stock market occupies in global indices and the structural risks of the Korean economy, for the National Pension to raise its domestic equity allocation still further is a decision that runs counter to the principle of international diversification as well.
The Pension Future Forum demands that the National Pension remain a genuine long-term institutional investor, independent of the short-term interests of the government and the political establishment.
Rather than the easy choice of raising the domestic equity investment ratio further, holding to the principles of diversification and fiscal stabilization that it set for itself, however uncomfortable that may be, is the way to preserve the public's trust in the pension system.
The Pension Future Forum strongly urges that the May 28 Fund Management Committee defer any increase in the domestic equity allocation and treat the occasion as an opportunity for a comprehensive re-examination of the principles and procedures of fund management and of information disclosure.
The Pension Future Forum further
strongly demands that the members of the Fund Management Committee, and above all those who serve on it on the strength of their expertise, not go along with the prevailing current but view this discussion from an expert's perspective.
Regarding the present situation, in which the principles of fund management are being shaken by factors external to the National Pension's own purpose, such as the defense of the exchange rate through the mobilization of the National Pension that has been under way since the end of last year,
it is precisely these members who, more than anyone else, must hold a grave awareness of the problem and speak out clearly.
The Pension Future Forum will watch the Fund Management Committee's decision-making process on this occasion closely, and
it makes clear that it will demand accountability, to the very end, for any attempt whatsoever to reduce the public's retirement assets to a policy instrument!
May 28, 2028
Pension Future Forum
