GPF seeks expansion in foreign investment
The Government Pension Fund (GPF) plans to raise the proportion of its investment in overseas asset to 40 per cent of total portfolio from the current 28 per cent.
The Finance Ministry caps the fund's holdings in foreign asset at 30 per cent of its total investment.
GPF secretary-General Vithai Rattanakorn said that GPF was seeking the board's approval to raise the ceiling to 40 per cent, adding that it needed to raise foreign asset investment to divert risks from local holdings and to seek better return.
The GPF will focus on alternative assets in foreign countries, such as infrastructure funds, private equity funds, foreign equities, or governments' bonds, Vithai said.
Despite strengthening of the baht by about 7 per cent against the dollar this year, GPF investment in international assets, including foreign stocks, has yielded return of 18 per cent in term of baht value.
The GPF has 1.1 million members. As of October this year, its net asset amounted to Bt935 billion.
