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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) saw the value of its disclosed holdings in listed companies with stakes above 5% surge by nearly 70 trillion won ($52.5 billion) in just one quarter, driven largely by soaring semiconductor stocks. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix accounted for more than two-thirds of the increase.
According to financial data provider FnGuide, as of January 7, the NPS’s equity holdings in companies where it owns at least 5% were valued at 266.1 trillion won, up 69.7 trillion won (35.5%) from 196.4 trillion won at the end of the third quarter of 2025.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix saw the largest gains in valuation, rising by 26.2 trillion won and 21.0 trillion won, respectively, for a combined contribution of 47.3 trillion won, representing 67.9% of the total increase in NPS holdings during the fourth quarter. The pension fund’s ownership ratios in both companies remained unchanged at 7.75% for Samsung Electronics and 7.35% for SK Hynix, indicating that the gains were entirely driven by share price appreciation.
The sharp rise in stock prices was supported by strong corporate performance. Samsung Electronics posted a record quarterly operating profit of 20 trillion won in Q4, fueled by a supercycle in memory chips. Its share price jumped 63.95% over the period, while SK Hynix more than doubled, climbing 106.11%.
“High-spec, high-capacity server memory demand continues to drive the global memory market, and as the first half of the year progresses, restocking for consumer IT such as mobile and PCs could sustain the pricing cycle,” said Baek Gil-hyun, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, regarding Samsung Electronics.
Conversely, among the NPS’s holdings exceeding 5% stakes, Hanwha Aerospace saw the largest drop in valuation, down 3.96 billion won, despite the fund holding a 7.92% stake.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
