Kast appoints Joaquín Cortez as Pensions Superintendent by supreme decree

The President of the Republic, José Antonio Kast Rist, appointed Joaquín Indalicio Cortez Huerta as Superintendent of Pensions through Supreme Decree No. 42, dated March 26, 2026, from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. The decree, processed by the Undersecretariat of Social Security, was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile no. 44,598, on Friday, November 13, 2026, in Section I, along with the official letter from the Comptroller General of the Republic that processes the appointment with scope (official reference CVE 2902798). The text states that the appointee assumed his duties on March 26, 2026, “for urgent reasons of good service,” without waiting for the full processing of the decree.

A vacancy opened by the non-voluntary resignation of Macías

The appointment closes the process initiated with the departure of Osvaldo Macías Muñoz, who submitted his non-voluntary resignation from the position of Superintendent of Pensions. That resignation was accepted through Supreme Decree No. 38, dated March 17, 2026, from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, effective as of March 16, 2026, as stated in the recitals of Decree No. 42 itself.

The position corresponds to a high-level public executive of the First Hierarchical Level, attached to the Senior Public Management System, in accordance with Decree with Force of Law No. 42 of 2003 from the Ministry of Finance, and Decree with Force of Law No. 3 of 2008 from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which establishes the staffing of the Superintendency. For this appointment, the system’s selection mechanism was exempted by Supreme Decree No. 286 of 2026 from the Ministry of Finance, published on March 26 of that year.

Direct appointment under article thirty-six bis

The decree is based on article thirty-six bis of Law No. 19,882, which empowers the President of the Republic to directly appoint up to twelve senior heads of service attached to the Senior Public Management System, once and within the first three months of their presidential term. The fifth recital of the decree justifies this exceptional route based on “the special nature of the position of Superintendent of Pensions, which requires a high degree of trust from the Authority.”

The decree also establishes the conditions of the appointment:

• Appointment as permanent staff, grade 1º E.F., permanent plant, First Hierarchical Level of the Superintendency of Pensions.
• National identity card of the appointee: 6.493.230-6.
• Validity until the end of the respective presidential term, pursuant to article sixty of Law No. 19.882, without prejudice to the power of removal under article fifty-eight.
• Senior Public Management allowance of 1%, in accordance with Supreme Decree No. 980 of 2014, from the Ministry of Finance.
• Expenditure charged to Subtitle 21.01.001 of the current budget of the Superintendency for 2026.
• Remittance of a copy of the decree to the Senior Public Management Council.

The instrument bears the signature of President José Antonio Kast Rist and the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Tomás Andrés Rau Binder, and was transcribed by the Undersecretary of Social Security, Elisa Cabezón Otero.

Comptroller’s Office issues with qualification and warns of conflicts of interest

Official letter No. OF212452/2026, dated November 9, 2026, from the Public Function Division of the Comptroller General of the Republic, took note of the decree as it conforms to the law, but formulated an express qualification. The agency warned that, according to the attached curriculum vitae, the appointee served as a director of entities such as AFP Habitat in Peru, AFP Colfondos in Colombia, AGF Prudential in Chile, and the Securities Market Accreditation Committee, positions from which he resigned as of March 26.

Therefore, the official letter orders that Cortez Huerta must avoid potential conflicts of interest in the exercise of his duties regarding said entities and others in which he has served, applying the duty of abstention when necessary. The Comptroller’s Office invokes the principle of administrative probity from article 8 of the Political Constitution of the Republic, developed in articles 52 and 53 of Law No. 18.575, and article 12 of Law No. 19.880, in addition to its jurisprudence contained in rulings No. 5.856 of 2018 and No. 22.989 of 2019. The official letter is signed by the head of the Public Function Division, Alejandro Gonzalo Riquelme Montecinos.

Impact on the regulator of the pension system

The Superintendency of Pensions is the entity that supervises pension fund administrators and applies the rules of the pension system affecting millions of contributors, including the implementation of the new Investment Regime for Pension Funds. The publication of the decree thus formalizes the leadership of the regulator until the end of the presidential term, with the additional requirement from the Comptroller’s Office to safeguard impartiality in matters involving the financial entities where the new superintendent held positions until March 2026.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, no. 44,598, November 13, 2026, Section I, pp. 1-3 (official reference: CVE 2902798).