The amount of in-kind transfers of retirement pensions, which allow subscribers to change financial firms without cancelling existing products, has reached 15.9 trillion won about 1 year and 8 months after the system was introduced. In particular, about 5.2 trillion won moved from banks to securities firms, highlighting a money shift toward brokerages in the retirement pension market.

The Financial Supervisory Service said on Sunday it held a kickoff meeting for a task force to improve the in-kind transfer service and discussed tasks to improve the system.

From Oct. 31, 2024, when the in-kind transfer service began, through the end of June this year, cumulative transfers totalled 15.87 trillion won across about 250,000 cases. The daily average was 26.1 billion won and 409 cases.

The pace of movement has also accelerated this year. In the first half of this year, in-kind transfers totalled 6.9 trillion won, more than double 3.2 trillion won in the same period last year. The half-year transfer amount rose to 6.9 trillion won in the first half of this year from 1.9 trillion won in the second half of 2024, 3.2 trillion won in the first half of 2025 and 3.8 trillion won in the second half of 2025.

By sector, the amount moved from banks to securities firms was 5.22 trillion won, the largest share at 33 percent of the total. Transfers between banks also accounted for 4.48 trillion won, or 28 percent.

On a net basis combining all inflows and outflows, the securities sector posted net inflows of 4.15 trillion won, while banks recorded net outflows of 3.97 trillion won and insurers net outflows of 179.9 billion won.

By scheme, transfers of individual retirement pensions (IRP) were the largest at 6.77 trillion won, followed by defined contribution (DC) plans at 4.82 trillion won and defined benefit (DB) plans at 4.28 trillion won. In DC and IRP, moves from banks and insurers to securities firms stood out, while DB showed a flow from securities firms to banks and insurers.

The FSS also decided to address inconveniences that emerged as transfers expanded. Currently, in-kind transfers are possible only within the same type of scheme, making it impossible to move assets in a DC account as-is to an IRP at another financial firm. Accounts holding funds suspended from redemption also face limits on in-kind transfers.

The FSS is therefore pushing to develop an IT system and include funds suspended from redemption in products eligible for transfer. It is also reviewing non-face-to-face verification methods that can replace mandatory recorded calls in the process of confirming transfer intent, and measures to give subscribers detailed reasons when a transfer request is cancelled or rejected.

The FSS will run the task force with 17 institutions, including the Korea Securities Depository, financial industry associations, Korea Securities Finance Corporation and major retirement pension providers. It aims to finalise improvement directions by September and begin IT development from October. The task force will run through 2027.