[Infostock Daily=Reporter Park Jeong-Do] Four people in the National Pension Fund Management Headquarters, which manages hundreds of trillion won in pensions, are being investigated by the police on charges of drug use. The National Pension Service was informed by the police and reportedly dismissed them. As the departure of the management station is accelerating, there is a concern about the insolvency of the management of the old age funds.
According to the National Pension Service on March 18, one responsible management officer and three full-time management officers in charge of alternative investments are being investigated by the police on charges of inhaling cannabis.
The investigation is conducted by the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency's drug investigation team, which has the fund management headquarters. An official of the National Police Agency said, "We will end the investigation into the suspects of marijuana inhalation by the end of this month." The National Pension Service was reported to have been dismissed on September 9 after being informed by the police.
The National Pension Service has not made a clear statement on the case, and an official of the National Pension Service said, “We cannot answer because we can’t confirm the fact.”
An official from the financial industry said, "Although it is a small number of deviations, it is shocking that it happened in an institution that manages the old age funds of the people." As of the end of June, the National Pension Fund has 752.2 trillion won in funds. The amount of alternative investment is about 90 trillion won. Some of them point out that the National Pension Service has not managed the employees properly.
This is because the discipline of the employees and related events have continued to occur. In October 2018, it was revealed that 114 employees of the Fund Management Headquarters visited overseas training with support from overseas consignment managers. From 2013 to 2017, they received a total of 847 million won in the name of accommodation, food, and airfare. The Code of Conduct for National Pension Employees prohibits the receipt of money and other goods from the person concerned.
Earlier in February 2017, it was revealed that three prospective retirees had sent confidential information on fund management, which caused controversy. Three people, including one chief, reportedly stored confidential information such as project investment data and investment detailed plans in external hard drives and personal computers. At that time, the Fund Management Headquarters was criticized for not knowing the details and personnel measures even though it knew this fact.
The Fund Management Headquarters has been suffering from headcount shortages since it moved to Jeonju Innovation City in 2017. In the past, the Fund Management Headquarters was rated as a workplace where top securities managerials work. However, the National Pension Service tried to recruit 21 asset management experts, but only 16 people were hired to backfill the postitions. The number of people leaving the agency has also increased: 20 in 2017, 34 in 2018, and 20 in management last year, leading to a continued workforce leak.
As the incident continues, there are also voices of concern about the poor management of old-age assets by the people, as asset management depends heavily on the manager's personal skills. Experts say that even if the fund's return falls by only 1 percentage point, the time of depletion will be five years earlier.
Reporter Park Jeong-Do newface0301@naver.com
