NPS to Form Highest Decision-Making Body in Standing, More Specialized Way

A plan is in the works to make the highest decision-making body at the National Pension Service standing and more specialized. The authority and treatment of the head of the Fund Management Department will be enhanced as well. However, the government reiterated a policy of actively exercising its shareholder rights for the purpose of introducing a stewardship code. Therefore, concerns about the government's influence on private companies invested by the National Pension Service will not disappear.

On December 15, the Ministry of Health and Welfare laid out a general plan for the national pension system focusing on the above-mentioned contents and announced that it decided to revise the National Pension Act by applying the plan.

According to the plan draft, the Pension Management Committee will hold a regular meeting once a month. Standing or full-time committee member will be appointed among committee members. The plan will cut the number of committee members from the government to three from the current six. Instead, one more worker and one more user representative will be added to the current three of each side at the committee. Also in the making is the appointment of a recommended expert from a member organization as a committee member.

For example, two of worker representatives who will increase to four will be appointed among laborers as usual while the remaining two will be appointed among experts in the fields of finance, economy, asset management and pension systems.

Active asset distribution strategy will be also employed. The foreign investment ratio is now around 30%, but will increase to about 45% in the future. The ministry will also raise the target earning rate to make it higher than the estimation earning rate (4.5% on average).