SSS hires 2 more fund managers for fixed-income investments

The state-run pension fund Social Security System (SSS) has hired two more local fund managers to handle P2 billion in pure fixed-income funds during the next two years.

The SSS on Nov. 29 last year awarded the contracts to Atram Trust Corp. and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) at a contract price equivalent to P2.5 million per year for each of the two fund managers.

Atram Trust and Metrobank will both manage P1 billion in funds within a two-year period.

In June last year, the SSS also tapped domestic fund managers to manage a total of P7 billion in funds belonging to its investment reserve fund (IRF) across three mandates.

For the balanced fund mandate, the SSS had hired Atram Trust, BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp., and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. to manage P1 billion in investible funds each.

For the pure equity fund mandate worth P1 billion each, the SSS had chosen BPI Asset Management, Metrobank, and Philequity Management Inc.

As for the pure fixed-income mandate worth also P1 billion, the SSS had initially tapped only BPI Asset Management, and later on rebid the remaining P2 billion earlier allotted for two other fund managers.

At end-2018, the SSS’s IRF amounted P495.6 billion, of which the bulk or 43 percent were investments in government securities.

Of the end-2018 IRF, 19 percent each were invested in equities, and members’ loans; 8 percent in corporate bonds and notes; 7 percent in real estate; 3 percent in bank deposits; and 1 percent in mutual funds. —Ben O. de Vera INQ