Korea Investment & Securities tops default option rankings with 101% three-year return

Korea Investment & Securities said Wednesday that its "Active Investment BF1" portfolio ranked first overall in the retirement pension default option disclosure published by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, posting a three-year cumulative return of 100.97% as of the end of September.

The 100.97% return far outpaced the industry-wide average of 57.58% for active investment portfolios across all retirement pension providers. The gap is equally striking against sector averages — securities firms averaged 61.45%, banks 55.76% and insurers 55.03%.

The portfolio is built around the "MySuper Self-Managing Growth" fund, developed in collaboration with affiliate Korea Investment Management. The strategy focuses on global blue-chip equities and diversified alternative assets, applying an asset allocation approach tailored to Korea's capital market environment with an emphasis on defending long-term returns.

Pension reserves also grew sharply. Korea Investment & Securities' combined defined-contribution and individual retirement pension reserves stood at 18.52 trillion won ($13.8 billion) at the end of the third quarter, up 44.8% from 12.79 trillion won at the end of last year — the fastest growth rate among all retirement pension providers.

Choi Jong-jin, head of the pension innovation division at Korea Investment & Securities, said the firm is "carrying out sophisticated asset allocation and multidimensional risk management to defend against global market volatility and support the systematic formation of long-term returns." Choi added that the company aims to be "a reliable partner in stably managing subscribers' retirement assets over their lifetimes, drawing on proven investment experience, as the long-term performance and service competitiveness of the default option system become increasingly important."

Korea Investment & Securities recently updated its "Korea Investment" MTS app to make it easier for customers to check their pension assets. Pension savings accounts and individual retirement pension accounts, previously accessible only through separate menus, can now be viewed together by type under the "My" tab on the home screen, giving customers an at-a-glance overview of their pension holdings without navigating away.