Attractive offer may make SSS part with its stake in Philex Mining

The Social Security System has expressed willingness to sell its stake in Philex Mining, saying an attractive offer may be enough for it to give up its income-generating investment.

Emilio de Quiros, president and chief executive officer of SSS, told reporters that the sale of the pension fund’s shares in the mining firm could become part of its investment strategies if doing so would prove to be practical.

SSS has a 22.43-percent stake in Philex.

“We are studying the possibility of selling. There will always be a buyer,” De Quiros said in an interview.

If the offer would be attractive, De Quiros said, then SSS would consider selling.

De Quiros said the SSS portfolio investments, including those in Philex, have been profitable.

He noted that in the first five months of this year alone, SSS generated P11 billion in additional income just from its investments in equities and fixed income securities.

Should SSS sell its shares in Philex, the pension may use the proceeds to buy other stocks.

The announcement of the openness of SSS to sell its stake in Philex came after De Quiros made a statement that the pension fund is seeking to diversify its equity holdings.

According to De Quiros, SSS is looking at investing as much as P20 billion in equities to take advantage of favorable growth projections for the stock market.

Apart from having a stake in Philex, SSS has shares in PLDT, Security Bank and Union Bank, among others.

But De Quiros said the pension fund would consider investing in other sectors, perhaps energy, to take advantage of potential growth of the stock market.

Under its charter, SSS can allocate as much as 30 percent of its funds for investments in equities. The state-owned firm so far has spent only 21 percent on equities, and so it can afford to invest in more stocks, De Quiros said.

SSS can invest as much as P20 billion to hit the 30-percent ceiling, De Quiros added.

Current total investments of SSS stand at P286 billion. Of the amount, De Quiros said, between P80 billion and P85 billion is in equities, while the bigger share of P108 billion is in government securities.

Other investments are in corporate bonds and loans to SSS members.

The country’s equities market posted a 5.82 percent gain in the second quarter, data from the financial services firm First Metro Investments Corp. showed.

The mining and oil sector posted the highest gain of 37.43 percent, according to the FMIC study.