"NPS Sweeps Up This Stock After Selling 960 Billion Won"

A Month and a Half of NPS Rebalancing
Bought SK hynix, Sold SK Square

Image to aid understanding of the article. The Asia Business Daily DB

The National Pension Service (NPS) has recently overhauled its domestic stock portfolio through rebalancing, resulting in notable changes. While it injected over 1.5 trillion won into SK hynix, taking advantage of additional purchasing capacity following a price correction, it sold nearly 1 trillion won worth of shares in SK Square, which had previously benefited from the rise in SK hynix's share value.

SK hynix Tops Net Purchases... SK Square Leads Net Sales

According to the Korea Exchange on August 18, since the NPS began rebalancing on July 1 until August 14, SK hynix was the most heavily purchased stock by pension funds. During this period, the pension funds made net purchases of SK hynix shares worth 1.5339 trillion won.

Other stocks that ranked high in net purchases included SK Innovation (283.1 billion won), S-Oil (210.9 billion won), Celltrion (210.5 billion won), Naver (184.2 billion won), Samsung Biologics (156.8 billion won), DB Insurance (151.3 billion won), SK Telecom (150.9 billion won), and LG Electronics (141.4 billion won).

Conversely, the most heavily sold stock during the same period was SK Square. Pension funds made net sales of SK Square worth 964.6 billion won. Other significant net sales included Samsung Electronics (389.8 billion won), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (329 billion won), LG Innotek (175.4 billion won), Hyundai Motor Company (163.6 billion won), Hyundai Mobis (152.7 billion won), Samsung Life Insurance (146.8 billion won), Hanwha Ocean (125.1 billion won), and Mirae Asset Securities (112.1 billion won).

Because a substantial portion of the transactions categorized as pension fund trades by the Korea Exchange are executed by the NPS, these flows are largely interpreted as a reflection of the National Pension Service's portfolio adjustments.

Switching from SK Square to the Primary Shares

Notably, there has been a visible movement of funds among SK Group stocks. Pension funds also made net sales of SK amounting to 55.9 billion won during the same period. The market attributes this to the correction in SK hynix's share price after the end of June. SK hynix, which had already surged considerably since last year, accounted for a significant share of the NPS's domestic equity portfolio, limiting further purchases. However, the price correction created opportunities for direct purchasing.

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Accordingly, it is interpreted that funds have migrated from SK Square and SK to the primary stock, SK hynix. This move was likely based on the expectation that a rebound in SK hynix would yield direct price gains.

However, if SK hynix shares rise again and occupy a larger proportion of the portfolio, there is a possibility that sales will resume as part of another rebalancing effort. In such a case, market observers expect the pension funds to disperse their sell orders to minimize market impact.

SK Square Leaps from 40th to 7th in Portfolio Rankings

Until recently, SK Square was one of the fastest climbers in the NPS's portfolio. Comparing the NPS’s domestic equity holdings at the end of 2025 to those at the previous year’s end, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix maintained their positions as the top two holdings by market value. The valuation of Samsung Electronics holdings increased from 23.0421 trillion won to 55.1095 trillion won, and SK hynix holdings from 9.5627 trillion won to 37.4316 trillion won.

SK Square's changes were even more dramatic. Its valuation jumped by 3.37 trillion won, from 773.4 billion won to 4.1434 trillion won, shooting up 33 places in the ranking from 40th to 7th.

This surge was largely attributable to the roughly 364% rise in SK Square's share price, from 79,300 won to 368,000 won, during the same period. As SK hynix's largest shareholder, SK Square holds about a 20% stake, and benefited from increased demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM) and the rising corporate value of SK hynix amid expanding AI investment. Perceptions that SK Square was undervalued versus its SK hynix holdings and expectations for a narrowing holding company discount also supported the share price revaluation.

Defense, Shipbuilding, and Power Stocks Also Climb in Rankings

Beyond SK Square, last year’s leading market sectors were directly reflected in shifts in the NPS's portfolio value rankings. Stocks related to defense, shipbuilding, nuclear energy, and power infrastructure all rose in the NPS's portfolio ranking.

Within the defense and shipbuilding sectors, Hanwha Aerospace rose from 21st to 9th, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries from 12th to 6th, and Hanwha Ocean from 45th to 19th.

The ascent of nuclear energy and power infrastructure-related stocks was also noteworthy. Doosan Enerbility leaped 25 places from 35th to 10th, entering the top 10. Hyosung Heavy Industries moved from 60th to 27th, and LS ELECTRIC climbed from 61st to 39th.

On the other hand, some stocks that had previously held top positions in the NPS portfolio saw significant drops. SK Telecom fell from 24th to 63rd, Krafton from 27th to 64th, and CJ CheilJedang from 57th to 132nd.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.