South Korea’s NPS names new CIO

The National Pension Service (NPS) of South Korea, the world's third-largest pension fund, has appointed a new CIO, according to multiple news reports.

Seo Won-joo, who served as CIO of Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) of Korea for three years, joins NPS for a two-year term, which carries the possibility of extension on a yearly basis depending on fund management performance, reported The Korea Economic Daily.

Prior to his stint at GEPS, Won-joo was head of investment (CIO, managing director) at PCA Life Insurance Co. in Seoul for four years. He previously spent 26 years at Samsung Life Insurance, holding a number of senior investment manager roles.

As of Sept. 30, National Pension Service Investment Management, a dedicated fund management arm of the NPS, had a preliminary value of 896.6 trillion Korean won and recorded a -7.06 percent return in the January-to-September period. The negative returns for three consecutive quarters in