This article appeared on Signal, the Capital Markets Compass, at 15:28 on May 19, 2026.
The valuation of U.S. stocks held by South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) fell by more than 5 trillion won in the first quarter from the end of last year, as turmoil in the Middle East stemming from the war between the United States and Iran weighed on U.S. equities.
According to the 13F report (institutional investor holdings disclosure) that the NPS filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), its U.S. stock holdings stood at $131.679 billion (198.3744 trillion won) as of the end of the first quarter, the pension fund said Monday. That compares with $135.07 billion (about 203.4829 trillion won) at the end of last year, a decline of more than 5 trillion won in a single quarter.
The drop was concentrated in U.S. Big Tech names. Nvidia holdings fell to $8.94 billion in the first quarter from $9.34 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, a decrease of $400 million (602.4 billion won). Over the same period, Apple holdings declined to $7.8725 billion from $8.21 billion, while Amazon holdings fell to $4.2575 billion from $4.58 billion.
The valuation decline also reduced Big Tech's weight in the NPS's U.S. equity portfolio. Nvidia's share slipped to 6.79% at the end of the first quarter from 6.92% at the end of the fourth quarter, while Apple's share fell to 5.98% from 6.08%. Microsoft's weighting decreased to 4.19% from 5.20%, and Meta's to 2.04% from 2.25%.
Analysts attribute the decline to tightening investor sentiment as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz drove global oil prices sharply higher. Rising risks of a "fund run," or large-scale withdrawals, in the U.S. private credit market are also cited as a factor behind the U.S. equity weakness.
Stocks newly purchased by the NPS this year include Exxon Mobil Corporation (0.39%), Chevron Corporation (0.21%) and Johnson & Johnson (0.19%). Both Exxon Mobil and Chevron are oil companies, suggesting that the NPS added to its positions on the back of surging crude prices. The pension fund also offloaded AppLovin (-0.18%), Boston Scientific (-0.09%), Capital One Financial (-0.07%) and American Express (-0.05%).
