Woori Financial Group presented key trends for financial markets in 2026, focusing on multiple variables including changes in the interest-rate environment, room for a stock-market rise, the AI investment cycle and super-ageing. It also judged that investment strategies need to be reshuffled by asset class to fit the “new normal”.

Woori Financial Group held a “Finance Forum” on reviewing major issues and trends in financial markets in 2026 on Tuesday, with experts from its asset management, securities, banking and insurance units presenting market outlooks and investment strategies.

Na-young Jung (정나영), deputy manager at Woori Investment & Securities, stressed a long-term investment strategy centered on global ETFs and dividend stocks. Investing in global indexes using ETFs listed in South Korea could be an alternative, and the U.S. S&P 500 index in particular has high long-term investment appeal, she said.

Dividend-stock investing was presented as a way to boost returns before retirement and secure stable cash flow after retirement. A strategy centered on stocks with strong dividend growth is important rather than simply chasing high dividends, the forum heard.

Sung-gyu Kim (김성규), a team leader at Woori Asset Management, said the bond investment environment has structurally changed. Since 2022, an expanding period in major countries where interest rates exceed economic growth has shaken existing investment formulas, he said.

The change was attributed to a combination of factors, including concerns about prolonged high inflation, supply-chain restructuring driven by deglobalisation and rising energy prices due to geopolitical risks.

He stressed that bond investment strategies also need to change. Kim said, “A strategy to secure interest income in a stable way is important,” and presented investments centered on short- to mid-term credit bonds and yield-curve strategies based on the gap between short- and long-term rates. He said bonds should be approached as a “rent-type income asset”.

Seok-hyun Park (박석현), deputy general manager at Woori Bank, said there is greater upside in the stock market than expected.

Key variables that determine stock prices are corporate earnings and valuation, and geopolitical risks can serve as buying opportunities as long as they do not undermine earnings themselves, he said.

He forecast that if external uncertainties ease, the KOSPI will regain an upward trend. Based on earnings forecasts, he also raised the possibility of the KOSPI reaching 7,000 points.

A view was also presented that Samsung Electronics could enter the top ranks globally in earnings in 2027 on the back of improving conditions in the memory semiconductor industry. In the AI industry, however, restructuring is inevitable after overinvestment, with winners likely to be decided within the next 2 to 3 years, the forum heard.

Jae-sik Shin (신재식), a deputy general manager at Tongyang Life Insurance, reviewed structural changes from ageing based on insurance payout data. Life expectancy is rising but healthy life expectancy has not improved significantly, lengthening the period people live with illnesses, he said. Shin stressed, “A strategy is becoming more important to prepare for both medical and living expenses after retirement, and the structure of insurance products also needs to change accordingly.”

Hyun-ji Joo (주현지), an assistant manager in Woori Bank’s pension business department, forecast the retirement pension market will grow to 1,000 trillion won. She said the biggest driver is structural expansion due to ageing.

Joo said, “The individual retirement pension (IRP) is a key means of shifting funds from income-earning years to after retirement,” and “receiving it as a pension rather than canceling early is advantageous from a tax perspective.” She added that converting severance pay into a pension early, even if the amount is small, can increase tax-saving effects.