Korea’s national pension fund plans to boost its investment in overseas assets in a bid to expand and diversify its portfolio, the service’s chief said Monday.

Jun Kwang-woo, the chairman of National Pension Service said that he plans to increase the fund’s offshore assets in such areas as real estate and equities as part of this year’s broader investment strategy.

“We have secured more than 350 trillion won ($304.7 billion) in pension fund reserves despite unfavorable overall economic conditions,” Jun said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. 

According to NPS data, the size of its reserve has surged by more than 26 trillion won as of Jan. 12 from 324 trillion won tallied at the end of 2010.

Its assets are expected to soon eclipse those of its Dutch peer, ABP, to rank the third in the world, as the North European pension fund may be struggling with losses caused by the eurozone debt crisis.

The chairman pointed out the NPS’s returns over the past three years reached 63 trillion won, with its average annual yield rate of 10.4 percent being achieved during the 2009-2010 period.

“It far outpaced the average return rate of a 6 percent posted in the past,” he added.

Jun said NPS’s gains were fueled by a shift in its investment strategy to more risky bets in foreign stocks and real estate, from sticking to low-yielding bonds.

He stressed the pension service plans to continue to bolster its active investment methods, tapping into non-financial assets such as housing and social development projects outside South Korea.

The NPS is scheduled to open a new office in London in July, following the launch of its New York branch last year, the chairman added.
 
(Yonhap News)