Seoul, June 9
Corporate retirement pension funds grew nearly 13 percent from a year earlier in 2024, breaching the 400 trillion-won mark for the first time since their introduction in 2005, while their return on investment declined, data showed on Monday.
The total amount of corporate retirement pension funds under management came to 431.7 trillion won (US$317 billion) as of end-2024, up 49.3 trillion won, or 12.9 percent, from a year before, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service, reports news agency.
The funds recorded an average return of 4.77 percent on their investments last year, down from the previous year's 5.26 percent.
The funds' average return on investment for the past five years came to 2.86 percent as of end-2024, with the 10-year average standing at 2.31 percent.
The corporate pension program was introduced in 2005, allowing employees to receive their pension in one lump-sum payment or monthly instalments after their retirement.
In 2024, out of some 573,000 people who received or began receiving payments from their corporate pension program, 13 percent chose monthly payments over a one-time payment.
The rate has been on a steady rise from 10.4 percent in 2023 and 7.1 percent in 2022.