Seoul: 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 Monday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the total amount of corporate retirement pension funds under management came to 431.7 trillion won (US$317 billion) as of end-2024. This marks an increase of 49.3 trillion won, or 12.9 percent, from the previous year. Despite the substantial growth in fund size, the funds recorded an average return of 4.77 percent on their investments last year, a decline from the previous year's return rate of 5.26 percent.
The average return on investment for these funds over the past five years was 2.86 percent as of the end of 2024, with the 10-year average standing at 2.31 percent. The corporate pension program, introduced in 2005, offers employees the option to receive their pension in a lump-sum payment or through monthly installments post-retirement.
In 2024, approximately 573,000 individuals received or began receiving payments from their corporate pension program, with 13 percent opting for monthly payments instead of a one-time payment. This choice has been steadily increasing, rising from 10.4 percent in 2023 and 7.1 percent in 2022.