South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) will up portfolio share in overseas securities and alternatives and reduce domestic bond holdings this year for more aggressive pursuit of profit as it is expected to deliver negative return in its capital investment for 2018.

The country’s largest institutional fund with 635 trillion won ($565.7 billion) assets under management in its operation outline for 2019 said it will reduce the share in domestic bonds to 45.3 percent and invest more in alternatives and oversea securities.

It has assigned 20 percent in overseas stocks, 4 percent in bonds, and 8.1 percent in alternative assets outside Korea.

The fund is mulling to entrust some assets for investment directly to its offices in New York, London, and Singapore to better respond to market changes.

It will diversify fund investment and also in index funds to leverage on risks from direct stock investment.

By October last year, its average return on investment was negative 0.57 percent, its poorest investment in 10 years.

Korean stocks delivered negative return of 16.57 percent, whereas overseas stocks generated yield of 1.64 percent, domestic bonds 3.86 percent, and foreign debt 4.66 percent, and alternative assets 7.57 percent.

By Yoo Joon-ho and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]