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The National Pension Service (NPS) posted a 4.08 percent investment return in the first half of this year, earning about 50 trillion won, driven largely by a boom in domestic stock markets.

According to the NPS Investment Management division on Thursday, the fund’s assets under management stood at 1,269 trillion won at the end of June, up 56 trillion won from the end of last year. Since its inception in 1988, the pension fund has accumulated a total of 787.5 trillion won in investment profits.

Despite weaker returns from overseas assets due to the won’s strength amid uncertainties such as U.S. tariff policies, the surge in Korean equities offset those losses.

By asset class, domestic equities delivered a return of 31.34 percent, domestic bonds 2.34 percent, and overseas equities 1.03 percent. However, alternative investments and foreign bonds recorded negative returns of –2.86 percent and –5.13 percent, respectively.

The strong performance of domestic equities was attributed to investor optimism over the new administration’s policies and the appeal of undervalued stock prices. While overseas equities started the year sluggishly due to U.S. tariff uncertainties and economic slowdown concerns, they recovered as risks eased and tech stocks rebounded.

Domestic bonds benefited from falling market interest rates, which led to valuation gains, whereas foreign bonds suffered losses due to the won’s appreciation against the dollar.

Returns on alternative investments largely reflected interest and dividend income as well as foreign exchange effects, with fair-value assessments not included in the interim figures.