Competition seeks best-run provident fund

Former deputy finance minister Pisit Leeahtam, president of the AOP, said the competition would honour fund managers who had demonstrated outstanding and efficient work, thereby allowing other provident funds to learn from their example and improve their own management processes.
The competition is divided into four major types of fund: provident funds of more than Bt5 billion; those between Bt1 billion and Bt5 billion; those of less than Bt1 billion; and pooled funds.
Judging will be based on various criteria, including the management structure of the fund, role and responsibility of the management committee, the role of the fund for the development and potential of members, and member satisfaction.
Applications will be accepted until September 15. The winner will be announced on November 22 at a ceremony at the Dusit Thani Bangkok hotel.
AOP secretary-general Manochai Sudjit said there were currently 453 funds covering 11,793 companies and 2.3 million individual members, and Bt650 billion in total asset value. The provident funds have grown by 12 per cent per annum and annually attract about Bt75 billion in contributions while paying out about Bt50 billion a year to retiring members.
The investment ports are divided into low-risk assets such as government bonds, accounting for 72 per cent, followed by cash deposits at 12.2 per cent and stocks at 11.4 per cent. Return on investment is 6.8 per cent per annum, which is close to the inflation rate but higher than the deposit interest rate.