Households’ pension, insurance assets hit record

Pension and insurance investments held by South Korean households reached a record high in the first half as they looked for safety amid a protracted economic slump, data showed Wednesday.

The amount of pension and insurance assets held by local households and non-profit organizations stood at 629.4 trillion won ($569.5 billion) as of the end of June, accounting for 26.4 percent of the 2,384.8 trillion won total, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.

It is the biggest portion tallied since the central bank began to track the data in 2002. The percentage hovered around 21-22 percent between 2002-2007 before it rose to 25.6 percent by 2011.

The record figure came as South Koreans opted to avert risky assets such as stocks in the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, which was sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

“There’s been a growing appetite for safer assets that ensure more favorable yields than bank deposits, since the economy’s locked in a low-growth pattern and a global downturn,” a bank official said.

However, the financial watchdog warned that the pension and insurance instruments have not in fact delivered good returns. (Yonhap News)