National Pension Service, Jeonju, appointed Seo Won-joo as chief investment officer for a two-year term.
A spokesman confirmed that Mr. Seo was appointed executive fund director and CIO on Dec. 27. He is responsible for leading the pension fund's investment activities.
He replaced Ahn Hyo-joon, the pension fund's longest-running CIO, having been appointed for a two-year tenure in 2018, followed by two one-year terms. He completed his final term in October.
Under Mr. Ahn's leadership, NPS posted strong results including a 9.7% annual return for 2021. However, the fund suffered losses in 2022, reporting a -7.1% year-to-date return as of September 30, led by a heavy 25.5% loss in global equities. Full year results for 2022 have not been published.
NPS reported 915 trillion South Korean won ($643 billion) in assets under management at the end of October 2022. It has 33% allocated to domestic fixed income, 28.4% to global equity, 14.2% to domestic equity, and 16.6% to alternatives. The rest of the portfolio is allocated to global fixed income, short-term assets and other assets.
Mr. Seo was CIO of the Government Employees Pension Service, for three years, starting in May 2019. Details on any replacement could not immediately be learned.
