The National Pension Service will push ahead in earnest with a plan to manage and operate "dementia money," which has remained outside the institutional system, through a public trust. The idea is to systematically manage the assets of dementia patients to boost profitability and link that to patient support and welfare.
According to related ministries on the 1st, the National Pension Service created a task force for asset management support last month and added 25 specialists in law, finance, and welfare, including lawyers and social workers. The move aims to improve expertise in the public trust business and prepare for future expansion.
From 2022 through last year, the National Pension Service piloted a public trust program by receiving about 5 billion won in assets from roughly 200 people with developmental disabilities. Starting this year, it plans to expand the target to dementia patients, recruit around 750 people in the first half, and is reviewing a plan to increase the number to about 1,500 next year. It is aiming to transition to a full-scale project in 2028.
Dementia money refers to the property of dementia patients, including financial assets, real estate, and pension and earned income. The estimated scale exceeds 170 trillion won, but a significant portion has been pointed out as falling into a management blind spot. The public guardianship system of local governments is mainly run by relatives, so its asset management function is limited, and dementia-related trust products offered by private financial firms have high subscription thresholds, making access difficult for the general elderly population.
By contrast, public trusts involve less expense and can be expected to offer stability because public institutions participate in asset management. Some also say the National Pension Service's entry into the market could expand the field of asset management for the elderly through a division of roles with private trusts.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare expects the number of dementia patients in Korea to exceed 1 million this year. The National Pension Service plans to strengthen the functions of public trusts and support for vulnerable groups based on its capacity to manage large-scale funds.