Mirae Asset Global Investments has held a forum to discuss the role of financial institutions amid changes to South Korea's retirement pension system and strategies for improving plan participants' retirement income.
The company said on the 16th that it hosted the 2026 Mirae Asset Global Investments Retirement Pension Seminar the previous day under the theme "The Changing Retirement Pension, Drawing the Future of Investment Together." The seminar was arranged to examine the implications of the system overhaul and to discuss management strategies for raising participants' long-term investment returns and retirement income.
In the first session, Nam Jae-woo, senior research fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute, presented on the role of financial institutions and how they should respond to the introduction of a fund-type retirement pension system. Nam cited the redesign of decision-making authority and accountability structures as the key task for the fund-type system. Securing independence and expertise in asset management must go hand in hand with fiduciary duty that puts participants' interests first and a conflict-of-interest management framework that works in practice, he said. He also noted that the management efficiency of the existing contract-type retirement pension system needs to be improved as well.
In the following presentation on investment strategy, long-term asset management approaches using target date funds (TDFs) were introduced. Because a fund's own return and the return participants actually realize can differ depending on when they invest and how they trade, the presentation emphasized the importance of asset management that helps investors stay invested for the long term even when market volatility rises.
Strategies for managing corporate defined-benefit (DB) retirement pension reserves were also a main agenda item. The seminar introduced approaches to using performance-based products in line with each company's target return and risk appetite, along with asset allocation cases involving public and private funds. In particular, through cases of outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) arrangements that pool the reserves of companies operating in similar business environments, the session shared ways to improve efficiency through greater scale and to build investment policies and portfolios suited to each company's characteristics.
Lee Jun-yong, vice chairman of Mirae Asset Global Investments, said the most important value in responding to changes in the retirement pension system is participants' stable retirement. "We will raise our expertise and accountability in asset management to contribute to a real improvement in our clients' retirement income," the vice chairman said. "Based on global asset allocation and systematic risk management, we will work closely with retirement pension providers to offer long-term pension solutions that support individuals' retirement preparation and companies' management of their reserves."