[Edaily Marketin JI YEONG-EUI YunJi Kim Reporter] As the selection process for the next chairman of the Private School Teachers’ Pension Fund—which manages a 36 trillion won fund—enters its final stages, the profile of a leading candidate has emerged. Professor Emeritus Lim Hyuk-baek of Korea University, who served on President Lee Jae-myung’s policy advisory group during the presidential primary and chaired the Democratic Party of Korea’s nomination committee for the 22nd National Assembly election, has emerged as a leading candidate after being shortlisted for vetting along with several other candidates.

According to government circles and the investment banking (IB) industry on the 5th, multiple candidates, including Im Hyeok-baek, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University, were placed under vetting toward the end of last month. Based on the results of the first and second comprehensive evaluations, Professor Im has emerged as the most likely candidate among the contenders. The appointment process for the chairperson of the Private School Teachers’ Pension Fund involves an open recruitment process, followed by a review by the Executive Nomination Committee to recommend a candidate, and finally, an appointment by the Minister of Education following a personnel vetting process.

Professor Lim is a political scientist who has conducted research in democratic theory, comparative politics, and political economy. After graduating from the Department of Political Science at Seoul National University and earning his master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of Chicago, he served as a professor at Ewha Womans University and Korea University. He has also held government advisory roles, including as a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Policy Planning and as Director of the Political Reform Research Office at the Presidential Transition Committee. Ahead of the 2024 22nd National Assembly election, he served as Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea’s Nomination Management Committee.

If Professor Lim is ultimately appointed, the selection of the Chairperson of the Private School Teachers’ Pension Fund will continue the trend of moving away from a focus on education bureaucrats, following in the footsteps of the current Chairperson, Song Ha-joong. Previous chairpersons have generally been individuals with experience in educational administration, such as Vice Ministers and Directors-General of the Ministry of Education, or Deputy Superintendents of metropolitan and provincial offices of education.

In particular, the current leadership under Chairman Song Ha-joong is regarded as a positive precedent for appointing individuals from outside the education bureaucracy. During Chairman Song’s tenure—a former professor of public administration at Kyung Hee University—the Private School Pension Fund recorded double-digit returns for three consecutive years. The fund maintained an “Excellent” rating in its fund management evaluations for five consecutive years and received an “A” grade in the Ministry of Education’s management performance evaluations for three consecutive years. Financial assets also increased from 21.5636 trillion won in 2023 to 35.9841 trillion won as of the end of May this year.

Some observers attribute these achievements to Chairman Song’s inclusive leadership, which respected the expertise of his staff and steered the organization steadily. Internally, he is described as a “benevolent leader” who credited employees for the results and granted them both autonomy and accountability. This underscores the view that organizational management skills—which involve working in harmony with professional investment teams to bring out the best in staff—are more important than the head of an institution’s personal background.

Industry and government circles cite Professor Lim’s expertise gained in academia and his experience in organizational management and policy coordination—accumulated through various public service activities—as the reasons he has emerged as a leading candidate in the final evaluation. Professor Lim has experience leading organizations and coordinating diverse interests not only in academia but also in government committees and political circles.

The next chairman faces the challenge of enhancing the long-term financial stability of the pension system while maintaining the fund’s existing investment performance. In response to the declining school-age population, university restructuring, and changes in the composition of contributors and beneficiaries, the chairman must manage fiscal soundness and secure stable returns even amid financial market volatility.

In terms of fund management, the next chairman must work in tandem with Baek Ju-hyun, the recently appointed Chief Investment Officer (CIO and Head of the Fund Management Division), to steadily steer medium- to long-term asset allocation and risk management systems, while providing institutional and organizational support for expanding the pool of specialized personnel and upgrading the infrastructure for investment and risk management. Raising the expertise and execution capabilities of the Fund Management Division to a level commensurate with financial assets that have grown to the 36 trillion won range is also cited as a key task for the next chairman.

Regarding the selection of the next chairman, an official from the Private School Teachers’ Pension Fund stated, “We cannot confirm details regarding the procedures currently underway.”