The National Pension Service (NPS) announced Friday that its investment return for the first half of the year reached a record 27.22%, driven by a sharp rally in domestic stocks. This return significantly surpasses the 18.82% recorded for all of 2025, which itself was the highest annual return since the fund's establishment in 1988. As of end-June, the fund's assets stood at 1,866 trillion won ($1.35 trillion), up from 1,458 trillion won at the end of last year.