The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is looking at possible investment opportunities in various sectors, including nickel processing, to further grow its investible funds.
“We are looking for potential avenues to invest our funds. We have a total investible fund of roughly P1.5 trillion, actually close to P1.6 trillion, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the growth and prosperity of these hard-earned contributions are invested in those that will give us comfortable credit while contributing to the growth story,” Wick Veloso, GSIS president and general manager, said in a virtual briefing yesterday.
Veloso said the bulk of the funds or around 49 percent is invested in government securities.
Twenty percent are invested in loans and another 20 percent are in equities. The remaining portion consists of properties, private equity, cash and near cash items for liquidity purposes.
“We are seeking (opportunities), for example, not only export (of) nickel ore, but also strategies to be able to do vertical integration. They would process their own nickel ore, produce lithium batteries, and further engage in vertical integration to eventually manufacture electric vehicles,” Veloso said in Filipino and English.
“We envision that within five to 10 years, the focus of our industry will significantly shift towards electric vehicles, and we’d like to make sure that we are able to take advantage of that,” he added.
Veloso said the pension fund is also looking for other infrastructure opportunities that offer favorable returns.
“We have been in talks with entities that have visibility on overseas opportunities, and we are looking at this as the returns are quite substantial, ranging from 18 to 25 percent, and we’d like to take full advantage of that,” he said.
“We are striving to ensure that our investments yield the kind of returns that allow us to improve our services, allocate funds to housing, enhance our multi-purpose loan programs, provide services such as columbarium facilities for our members and enhance medical benefits,” Veloso said.
