Pension Fund revisits its investment plan
THE GOVERNMENT Pension Fund is reviewing its five-year investment plan to better cope with the global economic situation, while expecting no impacts on its performance from global political developments.
“We see the global economy taking a gradual recovery path. Meanwhile, short-term political conflicts have not yet affected investment,” said, Srikanya Yathip, acting secretary-general of GPF.
The review would look at the trend for the fund’s growth, as its |investment strategy focuses on long-term investment with consistent returns.
GPF will invest more in alternative assets including those related to infrastructure, which will give its members long-term gains, she said.
Its portfolio is presently weights at least 60 per cent in fixed-income instruments. Based on its records for 20 years, the fund’s return averaged 6-7 per cent per year.
In the first eight months of this year, the fund yielded 3.58 per cent, down from last year’s 5.10 per cent. Its net asset value increase to Bt826.09 billion from last year’s Bt769.76 billion.
The fund is proposing to the Finance Ministry to amend the law to shift its new members to the age-balance plan to be in line with their age ranges and to find a more satisfactory return.
Now, GPF members can change their investment plan more easily to find their appropriate investment styles via GPF’s call centre and application. This can be done twice a year.
GPF counts 1.02 million members. In July this year, GPF registered an increase of 33,621 new savers, more than last year’s rise of 29,731 new savers.
