This article first appeared on Signal, the Seoul Economic Daily's capital markets newsletter, at 3:54 p.m. on April 16, 2026.
Kim Sung-joo, chairman of the National Pension Service (NPS), announced plans to expand investment in advanced industries including artificial intelligence. The move signals that NPS, which manages a fund exceeding 1,500 trillion won ($1.1 trillion), aims to boost returns and support industrial development by serving as a catalyst for growth.
"Since last year, NPS has been implementing an integrated portfolio approach starting with alternative assets in our investment strategy," Kim said at the Seoul Economic Invest Forum on Wednesday. "This has enabled our Fund Management Division to execute diverse investment strategies with greater flexibility and speed."
Kim emphasized the need for investment in advanced technology sectors. "In private equity, which accounts for approximately 44% of our alternative investment assets, we expect to achieve more stable and superior returns over the long term," he said. "We plan to expand investment in competitive companies in core technology areas including data, AI, batteries, and clean energy, as well as sectors with proven track records and growth potential."
The chairman stressed that NPS will continue expanding its investment scope in line with the government's push to foster venture capital, including the launch of the National Growth Fund. NPS has eased the "key personnel dual-employment restrictions," a longstanding request from the venture capital industry, and doubled commitments to general partners. The pension fund increased the number of fund managers to six, double that of last year, while expanding commitment size from 200 billion won to 400 billion won.
Kim said NPS is adapting to the AI transformation era. "NPS is strengthening AI-based operational capabilities, including automatically summarizing and translating domestic and international securities reports, and using deep learning technology to convert unstructured data into sentiment indices," he said. "We will continue to refine our investment strategies, improve operational infrastructure, and pursue change and innovation while maintaining rigorous risk management through our in-house crisis response team."
"The current investment environment faces growing uncertainty due to rapid technological advancement and geopolitical risks," Kim said. "But looking back at history, uncertainty has always been another name for new opportunity."
He added: "Like a farmer's delicate hands reading the wind across the fields, NPS will discover opportunities even in small changes and steadily grow the nation's precious retirement funds."
