GSIS to review global investment program

MANILA, Philippines—The state-owned Government Service Insurance System is set to review its global investment program to decide whether it must bring back all the funds it invested offshore or place them in other emerging markets in Asia.

The GSIS has a $600-million exposure in global markets—a result of the pension fund’s overseas diversification thrust initiated in 2008.

The allotment was originally set at $1 billion, but the GSIS, under its new president Robert Vergara and chairman Daniel Lacson, suspended the disbursement of the additional $400 million set by the previous board.

“The next debate will be whether we should continue with the global investment program,” Vergara told the Inquirer. “We will review this whole program in the first quarter of 2011,” he said, noting that the time frame was in line with the three-year mandate given to the global fund managers now handling the GSIS’ overseas exposure.

Vergara said the previous GSIS board had already given the green light to invest an additional $400 million in markets abroad. However, he said, the new management decided to suspend the deployment because of the trip President Aquino was about to make.

Aquino was about to leave for the United States to convince investors to bring funds to the Philippines, Vergara said.

At that time, he added, it seemed “rather uneasy” to invest money abroad in light of the President’s mission.

If the GSIS would continue with this overseas investment program, Vergara said he would prefer that the funds be rechanneled to emerging markets.

About $400 million of the GSIS’ fund is placed in the Amundi balanced fund run by Credit Agricole which, in turn, invests in fixed income in developed markets. Another $200 million is managed by Pimco, the world’s largest fixed income fund manager with over $1 trillion in assets. –Doris Dumlao, Philippine Daily Inquirer