[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, November 7 (local time) — South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) posted strong valuation gains in the third quarter of 2025, driven by its aggressive, large-cap technology-focused investment strategy amid a rebound in U.S. equity markets following the easing of tariff-related volatility.

 

According to data submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 4, the NPS held positions in 552 U.S.-listed companies as of the end of September — slightly up from 534 holdings at the end of June. Total shareholdings increased by 6.4 % to 859.5 million shares, while the aggregate market value of its U.S. stock portfolio rose 11.2 %, from US $115.8 billion (₩167 trillion) to US $128.8 billion (₩186 trillion).


The sharpest valuation increase came from NVIDIA Corp., whose share value surged 25.8 % from US $7.35 billion in June to US $9.25 billion in September. The NPS also increased its stake by 6.5 %, from 46.5 million to 49.6 million shares.


Apple Inc. holdings rose 3.2 %, while the stock’s valuation jumped 28 %, from US $5.91 billion to US $7.57 billion.
Alphabet (Google) and Tesla recorded even steeper valuation increases of 42.3 % and 44.2 %, respectively, though their shareholdings rose only around 3 % each, reflecting the magnitude of the stock price gains.


Other technology names — including Broadcom, Microsoft, Intel, and Lam Research — also saw valuation increases ranging from 8.9 % to 52.1 %, supported by modest share accumulation of 1.5–4.6 %.


Despite overall gains, a few holdings posted declines. The fund’s stake in Netflix rose 3.1 % in volume, but its valuation slipped 7.7 %, from US $1.20 billion to US $1.11 billion, suggesting opportunistic buying during a price correction.
NPS also modestly increased holdings in other underperforming Q3 names — including Salesforce, Costco, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Coinbase — by 1.3–2.7 %.


The pension fund also initiated new investments in several U.S. companies, including major airlines and EV manufacturers. As of September 30, the NPS owned 21,170 shares of Delta Air Lines and 6,652 shares of United Airlines Holdings, both newly acquired positions. It also added 14,206 shares of Rivian Automotive and 23,464 shares of Las Vegas Sands Group.


In a notable diversification move, the NPS purchased shares in U.S. conservative media groups — News Corp (8,648 shares) and Fox Corp (17,134 combined common and preferred shares) — marking its first positions in both companies.

Defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin (+2.8 %), RTX (+2.8 %), and L3Harris Technologies (+4.1 %) also saw increased NPS holdings.

 

 

Portfolio Breakdown

As of September 30, NVIDIA accounted for the largest portion of the NPS’s U.S. equity portfolio at 7.2 %, followed by Apple (5.9 %), Microsoft (5.7 % / US $7.4 billion), Amazon.com (3.2 % / US $4.16 billion), and Meta Platforms (2.5 % / US $3.28 billion).

 

 

 

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