Last year, the number of portfolio managers at the National Pension Service's fund management headquarters stayed below the authorized headcount all year. Despite its reputation as one of the world's three largest pension funds, the organization failed to staff even the basic support departments that underpin capital management, suffering a chronic "understaffed" shortage throughout the year.
In the industry, there is growing concern that the accelerating departure of human resources that ensure the professionalism of national fund management could disrupt the management of the public's retirement money.
According to Alio, the public institution management information system, as of Dec. 31 last year the National Pension Service had 394 fund managers. That was only 92% of the total authorized headcount of 430. Despite the ongoing labor shortage, this year the authorized number of portfolio staff was increased by 16 to 446.
Not once last year did on-the-job staffing reach the authorized level. By quarter, the figures were 388 in the first quarter, 395 in the second quarter, and 401 in the third quarter, before dropping back to 394 in the fourth quarter. Rather than bolstering staffing in the second half, the actual number declined, showing a reverse trend.
The National Pension Service (NPS) even held its first-ever recruiting session for investment professionals last year, betting big on securing talent, but the effect was limited. An official at the National Pension Service's fund management headquarters said, "Among the portfolio tracks, hiring was difficult in support areas like accounting and tax," and noted, "For fund managers as we generally think of them, recruitment continued."
As of the end of last year, the National Pension Service's portfolio staff, who move 1,438 trillion won in assets under management, were once coveted in the investment industry. Experience at the National Pension Service was a powerful credential when changing jobs. But after the 2017 relocation to Jeonju, preference for fund management positions began to trend clearly downward.
Recently, a controversy over "commuter buses" also flared. President Lee Jae-myung said at a New Year's press conference, "If you relocate public institutions to the provinces and then run a chartered bus to Seoul, there is no effect from the regional relocation." In the industry, the disappearance of commuter buses, the last bastion of livability, is expected to further accelerate the outflow of professionals and worsen hiring difficulties.
The National Pension Service branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Public Transport Workers' Union issued a statement criticizing the move as "a unilateral, armchair measure that does not consider the realities on the ground in innovation cities or the working characteristics of the National Pension Service."
When the stock market heats up like recently in a "bull frenzy," cases of internal National Pension Service staff moving to the private sector, such as the securities and asset management industries, become more frequent. A person in the financial investment industry who previously worked at the National Pension Service said, "The mood changes with the economy, and as the domestic market has turned bullish since last year, more people are moving," adding, "It's because there are fewer things like incentive systems compared with the outside."