National Pension Service's Domestic Stock Holdings Shrink from 516 Trillion Won to 334 Trillion Won in Seven Quarters

The value of the National Pension Service's (NPS) holdings of domestically listed stocks — calculated at market prices — fell by 182.3963 trillion won, or about 35.3%, in just three and a half months. On a quarterly basis, this marks the first decline since the fourth quarter of 2024, and the drop is the largest on record. The combined value of the NPS's stakes in 287 listed companies, in which it holds 5% or more as disclosed to regulators, stood at 333.5330 trillion won as of the 15th, down 182.3963 trillion won (35.3%) from 515.9293 trillion won at the end of June.

According to data compiled by financial information firm FnGuide on the 18th, 71.8% of the decline came from two semiconductor heavyweights: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Compared with the end of June, the value of the NPS's SK Hynix shares fell by 74.2261 trillion won and its Samsung Electronics shares by 56.8710 trillion won. Shares of both companies tumbled last week. Samsung Electronics slid 17.8% from 262,000 won to 215,500 won between the 12th and 16th — its steepest weekly drop since the fourth week of October 2008. SK Hynix plunged 24.3% over the same period, from 1,681,000 won to 1,272,000 won, its largest weekly decline since the third week of November 2008.

In January, the NPS Fund Management Committee temporarily deferred the domestic equity rebalancing and also raised the target allocation for domestic stocks, from the original 14.4% to 14.9% in January and 20.8% in May. As a result, the NPS's domestic equity portfolio grew from 125 trillion won in 2022 to 419 trillion won in July this year. Domestic stocks' share of total assets under management also expanded from 14.1% in 2022 to 24.9% in July this year.

NPS Chairman Kim Sung-joo told the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee during a parliamentary audit on the 14th: "Had the Fund Management Committee not deferred rebalancing in January and instead followed the rules, we would have had to sell more than 800 billion won a day — over 10% of KOSPI trading volume — which would have delivered an enormous shock to the market." The NPS sold 160 billion won worth of shares during the recent market slump.