Poor Investment Performance of NPS
The National Pension Service (NPS) suffered a valuation loss of 14 trillion won (US$12.47 billion) last year from its investment in the shares of the listed companies affiliated with the country’s top 10 business groups.
The NPS had an average of 7.76 percent stake in companies under the top 10 business groups as of the end of last year, according to data released by industry tracker Chaebul.com on Jan. 20. The figure was up 1.14 percentage points from 6.62 percent at the end of 2017.
The NPS stake in listed companies under Samsung Group increased from 6.47 percent to 8.80 percent, showing the highest growth, followed by Nonghyup Group from 7.97 percent to 9.59 percent, Hyundai Motor Group from 7.04 percent to 7.77 percent, POSCO Group from 3.63 percent to 3.81 percent, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group from 9.63 percent to 9.72 percent and Hanwha Group from 5.07 percent to 5.12 percent. On the other hand, the NPS stake in SK Group decreased from 6.73 percent to 5.92 percent, Lotte Group from 4.19 percent to 3.65 percent, GS Group from 7.25 percent to 6.94 percent and LG Group from 8.94 percent to 8.79 percent.
However, the NPS suffered a sharp valuation loss amid a general decline of the Seoul bourse. The value of the NPS stockholdings in these groups fell by 14.36 trillion won (US$12.79 billion), or 17.8 percent, from 80.81 trillion won (US$71.99 billion) at the end of 2017 to 66.45 trillion won (US$59.20 billion) at the end of last year. In particular, the company’s equity value of listed firms under Samsung Group decreased by 8.05 trillion won (US$7.17 billion), or 19.5 percent, from 41.37 trillion won (US$36.85 billion) to 33.32 trillion won (US$29.68 billion).