State-run pension fund manager Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is not pushing through with earlier plans to invest $400 million out of its $1 billion Global Investment Program this year, a senior official said Friday.
 
GSIS senior vice president for asset management Cecil Feleo told reporters that the pension fund manager has decided not to tap additional fund managers for its investments abroad due to the global financial crisis.

“It was shelved indefinitely. Definitely not this year,” said Feleo. Around 30 foreign fund managers have expressed and submitted proposals for the remaining portion of the GSIS's global kitty.

Of its $1 billion global fund, $600 million has already been assigned to ING Investment Management and Credit Agricole Asset Management (Singapore) Ltd to each manage an initial $300 million for investments outside the Philippines. It also tapped New York-based Citibank NA as its global custodian.

GSIS previously has an arrangement with ING and Credit Agricole to ensure an average of 8 percent return per year over a 3-year period. Critics of GSIS have previously questioned if these investments were prudent as global markets plummeted after the global financial crisis hit capital markets worldwide.

Feleo said the return on overseas investments of the pension fund manager is performing better as of the first quarter compared to the last quarter of last year or during the height of the global financial crisis. She refused to provide more details.
 
The pension fund manager’s investment income jumped 30 percent to P46.42 billion last year from P35.6 billion in 2007 due to improved member contributions, hefty foreign exchange gains, and the sale of its stakes in electricity giant Manila Electric Co. to food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. for P27 billion.