Samsung Securities named winner of 9th Korea Retirement Pension Awards

Samsung Securities headquarters [Courtesy of Samsung Securities]

Samsung Securities Co. has been chosen as the best player in South Korea’s retirement pension market, an industry boasting a staggering value of 300 trillion won ($225 billion).

Maeil Business Newspaper announced on Wednesday that Samsung Securities has won the top prize in the 9th Korea Retirement Pension Awards, while Hana Bank Co., Korea Investment & Securities Co., and Samsung Life Insurance Co. were selected as the best retirement pension operators in the banking, securities, and insurance sectors, respectively.

The highly coveted accolades celebrate the prowess showcased by this year’s winning companies, commending their unwavering commitment to achieving stable investment returns and their bold investment strategies in the face of uncertain market conditions.

As concerns surrounding the surge in U.S. benchmark interest rates, inflation, global downturn, and economic slowdown loom large, these companies have gone above and beyond to meet the soaring expectations of their subscribers, according to award judges.

The award ceremony slated for May 23 will be held at Maekyung Media Center in Seoul’s Jung-gu district.

The event is organized by Maeil Business Newspaper and Korea Fund Ratings, with sponsorship from the Financial Services Commission, Korea Financial Investment Association, Korea Federation of Banks, and Korea Life Insurance Association.

Samsung Securities, the grand prize winner, received excellent evaluations in all categories, including retirement pension savings and investment returns. Particularly, the company’s retirement pension savings came to 9.47 trillion won as of the end of last year, recording a growth rate of 27.9 percent in the past three years. This was the fastest growth rate compared to its sector peers and other large financial firms managing retirement pensions of more than 5 trillion won. Samsung Securities received high scores from the judges in the subscriber services sector, including the investment process.

[Image source: Gettyimagesbank]

Samsung Securities is the only company in Korea to provide pension plan services through remote access. The company established a system that allows one-stop management of retirement pension debt and investment proposals by adding pension savings operation plans and investment policy modules to its remote service-capable actuarial systems. It also set up research centers across the country, the first in the industry, to manage pension clients, and provide related services through dedicated private bankers.

To provide advanced retirement pension services, Samsung Securities introduced “Samsung Securities 3-Minute DC,” which does not require paperwork or mailing for enrollment. This is the first in the industry to enable retirement pension enrollment in just three minutes through a smartphone. It also introduced “Direct IRP,” which eliminates management fees for Individual Retirement Pension (IRP), making it the first of its kind in the local market.

Hana Bank is the best award winner in the banking sector for the second consecutive year. Hana Bank showed overwhelming performance among banks in all evaluations, including retirement pension savings and investment returns. The bank’s pension savings amount reached 27.26 trillion won as of the end of last year, recording a growth rate of 20.4 percent in the past three years.

Korea Investment & Securities is the best award winner in the securities sector. The company achieved scores of 9.1 out of 10 in the investment returns category for the past 3 to 5 years. It received the highest score among the applicants this year, demonstrating excellent performance in investment returns management.

Samsung Life Insurance is the best award in the insurance sector, obtaining the highest scores in both retirement pension savings and investment returns among insurance companies.

In the retirement fund sector, the winners are “Woori Short Term Bond Security Feeder Investment Trust (Bond) Class C-Pe” from Woori Asset Management in the domestic category, “NH-Amundi USD Ultra-Short Term Bond Security Feeder Investment Trust (Retirement Pension) Class C-P2e” from NH-Amundi Asset Management in the overseas category, “Mirae Asset Strategic Allocation TDF2025 Mixed Asset Feeder Investment Trust Class C-P2e” from Mirae Asset Management in the TDF category, and “Samsung KODEX TRF3070 Securities Listing Index Investment Trust (Bond Mixed)” from Samsung Asset Management in the ETF category.