FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Govt Pension Fund targets higher savings from members

Govt Pension Fund targets higher savings from members

The Government Pension Fund (GPF) plans to have at least 10 per cent of its members increase their savings in 2020, expressing confidence that it can pay a yield of 4-5 per cent annually.

GPF secretary-general Vithai Rattanakorn said that the GPF aimed to become a sustainable savings fund in 2020 by having members increase their savings and choose additional investment plans.
“We aim to have at least 10 per cent of members, or 100,000 persons, accumulate savings that are big enough to pay 80 per cent of their last salary before retirement,” he said. “This means members will have to increase their contributions while choosing suitable investment plans based on GPF’s recommendations.”
Vithai further added that GPF has been using the Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) principle in choosing a third party fund manager since the beginning of 2019. “Next year we aim to invest 100 per cent in domestic ESG portfolio in both stocks and bonds, which means that all eligible investment partners must comply with the ESG standard,” he added.
Next year GPF is planning to employ the Retirement Readiness Index as a tool to evaluate the savings status of its members and design appropriate supporting measures. “This will be a pilot programme, which can be further developed into National Retirement Readiness Index, a programme that GPF has been working with Chulalongkorn University to create a reference index to prepare Thailand for becoming an aged society in the near future,” Vithai added.
Currently the GPF has approximately 1.1 million members and net assets of Bt950 billion. The fund has increased investment capital at the rate of Bt30 billion to Bt40 billion per year and pay a yield of 5.3 per cent. “Next year, the yield should be in the range of 4-5 per cent,” said Vihai, citing that the fund may have to lower its payment rate to reduce risks from exterior factors such as the global economy.

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