□ The National Pension Fund, which exceeded the KRW 1,000 trillion milestone for the first time in 2023, continued its solid performance in the January-March period of 2024.

  ○ The National Pension Service Investment Management, a dedicated fund management arm of the National Pension Service (NPS; Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Kim Tae-hyun), announced on May 30, 2024 that the Fund achieved a preliminary return of 5.82%, equivalent to KRW 61 trillion, for the first quarter that ended on March 31, 2024, bringing the total assets under management to KRW 1,101 trillion.

□ Buoyed by a tech-driven rally in the U.S. since the start of the year, domestic and overseas equities delivered strong returns; however, the Fund’s overall result was offset in part by higher interest rates due to concerns over a delay in the interest rate cuts in the U.S.

   ○ By asset class and on a money-weighted return basis, overseas equity returned 13.45% and domestic equity returned 5.53%. Overseas fixed income returned 4.48% and domestic fixed income returned negative 0.01%. Alternatives returned 4.11%.

  ○ Despite fears of sticky inflation in the U.S., the surge in mega-cap tech stocks, largely fueled by expectations of an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, propelled domestic and overseas equities to fare well. The depreciation of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar also contributed to delivering a double-digit return from overseas equities.

* Domestic Stock Market (KOSPI): up 3.44% from the start of the year
Global Stock Market (MSCI ACWI ex-Korea, USD): up 8.32% from the start of the year

  ○ Concerns over the likelihood of further monetary tightening in the U.S. pushed interest rates up; however, overseas fixed income had a positive return due to an increase in the USD/KRW exchange rate.

* Korean Treasury (3-year): up 17.4bp from the start of the year
U.S. Treasury (10-year): up 32.1bp from the start of the year

* USD/KRW exchange rate: up 4.45% from the start of the year

□ For alternative assets, their fair values are measured at the end of a financial year and are not reflected in year-to-date results.

  ○ The first-quarter performance of alternative assets was primarily driven by income sources such as interest, dividends, and foreign exchange gains arising from a strong U.S. dollar relative to the local currency.

□ Kim Tae-hyun, Chairman & CEO of NPS, said: “The Fund has continued its strong performance this year, following the previous year.”

  ○ “As a long-term investor that manages the precious retirement funds of the Korean people, we remain fully committed to generating stable returns even in the face of increasing market volatility.”