Bloomberg reports that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) is planning to invest more of its R2 trillion under management outside the country and in unlisted assets to reduce risk of overexposure to locally traded companies.  

The strategy was outlined by GEPF principal executive officer Abel Sithole to the commission of inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing and poor governance at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the pension fund’s biggest manager.  The GEPF has more than 92% of its assets invested in companies trading on the JSE and is a significant holder of SA government bonds and those of state-owned enterprises.  The GEPF’s “significant home bias” wasn’t wrong and had historically served the GEPF well, but the fund needed to manage risk, Sithole said.  Moving more GEPF cash offshore could send shockwaves through SA’s listed companies, many of which count the PIC as its biggest shareholder.  Meanwhile, increased investment in unlisted assets may help new industries and support black entrepreneurs as part of a wider initiative to redress economic imbalances caused by white-minority rule.

• Read the full original of Janice Kew’s report in the above regard at Moneyweb

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