'Why Choose a Long‑Term Pension Plan?': Prof. Youngju Nielsen
- SKKGSB
- Hit48975
- 2025-07-01
Professor Youngju Nielsen of SKK GSB at Sungkyunkwan University, who has provided her deep insights on finance and contributed articles to major media outlets in Korea.
Due to her family circumstances, she changed her career and became a professor in Korea after working as an investment expert on Wall Street in the U.S. for 15 years.
"My father was battling cancer, so I came back to Korea to spend time with my family. During this time, I made a career transition to academia. I had a strong desire to share my experience as a professional in the stock market in the U.S.," she said.
While Korea's National Pension Fund continues to deplete, Professor Nielsen encourages people to choose an investment product aiming for long term investment returns. However, there are still many people who lack trust in the Korean stock market.
"Many people remain hesitant to invest due to a lack of trust in the Korean stock market or in fund management. However, I believe that to resolve the issue of insufficient retirement income that cannot be covered by Korea's National Pension, the retirement pension system must play a major role in retirement income provision. In fact, nearly all advanced countries have supplemented the public pension systems that are facing funding crises through occupational or private retirement pensions," she explained.
Professor Nielsen emphasized, "Retirement pensions allow you to accumulate a pension fund during your working life and function effectively as a reliable source of retirement income. However, simply allocating your funds to principal-guaranteed products may not keep up with inflation. Especially for younger workers with many years until retirement, it is crucial to leverage the power of compound interest and the benefits of long-term investing."
She also explained that since Korea's financial market is linked to the global financial market and offers many products that allow you to invest in diverse assets at low cost, it is not necessary to limit investments to the Korean market alone. Furthermore, the retirement pension system provides an environment where investors can invest in international stocks, bonds, ETFs, and more.
Professor Nielsen pointed out, "It is not wise to give up investing simply because of concerns about the Korean stock market."
Retirement pensions are ultimately a long-term investment. To succeed, improving financial literacy is essential. Professor Nielsen stated, "Financial literacy is not something that can be developed quickly. However, I recommend starting by studying basic financial concepts through books, and then naturally cultivating an interest in the global economy and market trends."
Professor Nielsen stated, "I would like to highlight that investing is not about picking an individual stock. The core of long-term investing lies in building a portfolio that reflects the overall market trend and maintaining it consistently."
What inspired Professor Nielsen, who worked as an investment professional on Wall Street for 15 years, to begin teaching and conducting research at SKK GSB at Sungkyunkwan University?
Professor Nielsen explained, "Sungkyunkwan University is one of the oldest universities in Korea, it is also the university that embraces innovative initiatives. For faculty members, it is highly motivating to work with colleagues from diverse nationalities and varied academic and industry backgrounds."
Ultimately, this diversity creates positive energy for students, faculty, and the school as a whole.
Professor Nielsen stated, "I have always focused on the gap between the 'theoretically ideal approach' and the 'practically feasible method.' The purpose of my teaching and research is to find the middle ground between the two."
When asked about her dual role as a professor and CEO of a retirement pension fintech firm, she said, "I believe it is more important to focus on methods that are tested and work effectively in the market, rather than theoretically perfect but practically useless. I view the startup activities of experimenting and validating ideas in real markets as a continuation of my work as an academic."
Check out Professor Youngju Nielsen’s recent articles on retirement pension:
https://magazine.hankyung.com/business/article/202505130568b
https://magazine.hankyung.com/business/article/202505130603b’