Sovereign wealth funds Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) posted a total asset return of 13.91% for 2025. Last year's assets under management (AUM) came to $232 billion (about 333 trillion won), setting a new all-time high again.
On the 23rd, KIC said the annual return of 13.91% lifted investment gains for the year by $28.5 billion (about 41 trillion won) from a year earlier. KIC's annualized return over the past 10 years (2016–2025) was tallied at 7.07%.
Since KIC's establishment, cumulative net profit totaled $122.4 billion (about 176 trillion won), surpassing for the first time the entrusted principal of $118.6 billion (about 170 trillion won). KIC's asset mix is traditional assets (stocks and bonds) 78.1% and alternative assets (private equity, real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds, etc.) 21.9%.
The annual return by asset class was 22.24% for stocks and 7.46% for bonds. Relative return (excess performance) was 16 bps (1 bp = 0.01%) for stocks and 47 bps for bonds.
KIC said, "In the bond institutional sector, strategies such as responding to currency-specific rate moves and keeping maturities short contributed to performance," and added, "In equities, a growth-sector-focused approach and identifying individual names proved effective, and strategies to ride growth in materials and financials and to increase weights in leaders supported results."
Reflecting the long-term nature of alternative assets, KIC disclosed 10-year annualized returns rather than yearly figures. The overall 10-year annualized return for alternative assets was 8.48%. By asset, the annualized return was 12.87% for private equity, 10.91% for infrastructure, 5.47% for hedge funds, and 3.94% for real estate.
KIC explained, "Since the second half of last year, as interest rates stabilized, favorable conditions have taken shape for operations, including a recovery in the fundamentals of private equity, a basis for repayment of loans in private credit, and a rebound in real estate transactions."
KIC President Park Il-young said, "As volatility in financial markets is expected to persist this year, we will focus on portfolio stability and strengthening resilience from a long-term perspective," and added, "We will successfully establish the total portfolio approach (TPA), which is scheduled to be introduced this year."