Philippine pension fund to invest big
State-owned Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Philippines’s largest pension fund with assets of $17.6 billion, has said it will step up its infrastructure investment especially through the $625 million infrastructure fund Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure (Pinai), which was set up in partnership with the Asian Development Bank.
GSIS, a key institutional investor in the country, wants to expand stock investments in property and infrastructure stocks in a bid to diversify its investments away from government bonds, Robert G. Vergara, said in a roundtable discussion on March 13 in Manila.
The Pinai fund, of whose capital GSIS holds around two thirds, plays a major role for this as the fund will invest in a mix of both brownfield and greenfield projects across the infrastructure sector. The fund was launched in July 2012.
Pinai is a 10 year, closed-end fund, dedicated to equity investment in Philippine infrastructure. Its objective is to invest in unlisted equity and equity-linked infrastructure projects and businesses in the Philippines, including public-private partnerships, in the sectors of water and waste, roads, rail and other mass transit, ports and airports, power generation, transmission and renewable energy, gas distribution and telecommunications infrastructure.
The Asian Development Bank has put $25 million into the fund; Dutch pension fund asset manager APG and Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets serve as manager.
There are a lot of options for the fund as the Philippines is struggling with a significant infrastructure gap that needs to be filled. While the country is on a strong growth path, its ‘hardware’ has not kept pace with rising investment from overseas. Despite around $10 billion in government spending on infrastructure in 2012, the investment in the sector is just 3 per cent of GDP compared to a Southeast Asian average of 5 per cent.
The government is looking to attract private capital into the sector through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center. Established in 2010, the PPP Center already has over 20 projects in the pipeline. Pinai aims to fund five to 10 projects costing $50 to 125 million each.
State-owned Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Philippines's largest pension fund with assets of $17.6 billion, has said it will step up its infrastructure investment especially through the $625 million infrastructure fund Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure (Pinai), which was set up in partnership with the Asian Development Bank. GSIS, a key institutional investor in the country, wants to expand stock investments in property and infrastructure stocks in a bid to diversify its investments away from government bonds, Robert G. Vergara, said in a roundtable discussion on March 13 in Manila. The Pinai fund, of whose capital GSIS holds around two...
State-owned Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Philippines’s largest pension fund with assets of $17.6 billion, has said it will step up its infrastructure investment especially through the $625 million infrastructure fund Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure (Pinai), which was set up in partnership with the Asian Development Bank.
GSIS, a key institutional investor in the country, wants to expand stock investments in property and infrastructure stocks in a bid to diversify its investments away from government bonds, Robert G. Vergara, said in a roundtable discussion on March 13 in Manila.
The Pinai fund, of whose capital GSIS holds around two thirds, plays a major role for this as the fund will invest in a mix of both brownfield and greenfield projects across the infrastructure sector. The fund was launched in July 2012.
Pinai is a 10 year, closed-end fund, dedicated to equity investment in Philippine infrastructure. Its objective is to invest in unlisted equity and equity-linked infrastructure projects and businesses in the Philippines, including public-private partnerships, in the sectors of water and waste, roads, rail and other mass transit, ports and airports, power generation, transmission and renewable energy, gas distribution and telecommunications infrastructure.
The Asian Development Bank has put $25 million into the fund; Dutch pension fund asset manager APG and Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets serve as manager.
There are a lot of options for the fund as the Philippines is struggling with a significant infrastructure gap that needs to be filled. While the country is on a strong growth path, its ‘hardware’ has not kept pace with rising investment from overseas. Despite around $10 billion in government spending on infrastructure in 2012, the investment in the sector is just 3 per cent of GDP compared to a Southeast Asian average of 5 per cent.
The government is looking to attract private capital into the sector through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center. Established in 2010, the PPP Center already has over 20 projects in the pipeline. Pinai aims to fund five to 10 projects costing $50 to 125 million each.
