Comparing the Performance and Management Style of Retirement Pension Funds before and after the Private Pension Activation Plan

Abstract

We analyzed and compared the performance and management style of retirement pension funds before and after the private pension activation plan (PPAP). First, we found that retirement-pension funds showed better performance than public funds before the PPAP. However, after the PPAP, the retirement-pension market size increased and the difference in performance disappeared. Second, we found that the difference between top and bottom performance group in the retirement pension fund becomes more significant after the PPAP. Third, we found that various investment strategies such as small-medium size stock investment and sector investment are offered in the retirement-pension fund only to result in the inferior performance. Finally, when we compared the management style, the retirement-pension funds showed a smaller value factor compared to public funds for the period after the PPAP. Therefore, we argue that the fund selection has become a more significant factor in determining the retirement fund performance after the PPAP. However, considering that the average retirement-pension holders’ financial knowledge is rather low, the expansion of fund choices may adversely affect the pension holder’s performance. Therefore, a retirement-pension provider’s role as fund selection authority has become more critical, and it is necessary to establish an institutional device that can manage, supervise, and monitor their activities.