The sovereign wealth fund said Monday that it recorded an annual return of 13.91 percent last year, while its 10-year annualized return from 2016 to 2025 stood at 7.07 percent. Total assets under management (AUM) rose to $232 billion, driven by net investment gains of $28.5 billion.
Cumulative net investment gains since inception reached $122.4 billion, exceeding entrusted principal of $118.6 billion for the first time, marking a symbolic milestone for the state-run fund.
By asset class, traditional assets — equities and fixed income — accounted for 78.1 percent of total AUM, while alternative assets, including private equity, real estate, infrastructure and hedge funds, made up 21.9 percent.
Traditional assets generated a return of 15.1 percent, led by equities at 22.24 percent and fixed income at 7.46 percent. Alternative assets posted a 10-year annualized return of 8.48 percent, reflecting their long-term investment nature.
KIC said disciplined portfolio management helped lift returns, with traditional assets outperforming benchmarks by 24 basis points. Fixed income strategies generated 47 basis points of excess return through currency and duration management, while equities delivered 16 basis points of excess performance.
“Despite persistent global interest-rate volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, KIC delivered balanced performance through disciplined analysis and rigorous risk management,” said Il Young Park, chief executive officer of KIC.
“With market volatility expected to persist, we will focus on enhancing long-term portfolio stability and resilience,” Park said, adding that KIC will implement its Total Portfolio Approach this year to strengthen sustainable returns.
Still, the fund, which is restricted to relatively conservative strategies and overseas assets as part of managing the nation’s foreign exchange reserves, performed modestly when compared to the National Pension Service (NPS), which reaped investment return rate of 20 percent last year.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
