State-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System posted a 69-percent increase in net income in 2017 to P94.7 billion from P56.1 billion a year ago, driven mainly by strong growth in its financial assets.
GSIS said in a statement Friday income from financial assets almost doubled to P59.1 billion in 2017 from P30.2 billion in 2016.
“In particular, the increase came from the gains on valuation of traded stocks for 2017, which reached P37.3 billion, reversing the loss of P516.2 million the prior year,” GSIS said.
The stock market had a stellar year in 2017 after Philippine equities posted a record-high of 8,558.4 points.
In 2018, president and general manager Jesus Clint Aranas said GSIS would
focus on plugging financial leakages to guard the returns and manage its expenses to generate savings.
“We are also diversifying our investments to improve the returns of our portfolio. It is never good to put all our eggs in one basket,” Aranas said.
Income from insurance climbed nearly 10 percent to P107.2 billion, boosted by contributions of members who have reached 1,712,173 as of end December 2017.