GSIS to provide more benefits and services to members

State-owned Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said it would be able to provide more benefits and services to its 1.3 million members this year.

In a statement, GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia credited the phenomenal success of the government’s pension fund’s  financial performance last year” to the conducive and favorable economic investment climate in the country.”

Garcia believes that the fund manager attained financial growth mostly from its forays in the local capital market and to the conducive economic environment in the country.

Garcia reiterated that GSIS was able to record a remarkable 20 percent growth in its net operating revenues to P35 billion for the first nine months of 2007 from P29.2 billion a year ago.

Growth was mainly fueled by revenues derived from its local investments, GSIS records showed.

The pension fund manager recorded P153.4 million in revenues from domestic investments managed by local fund managers.

The GSIS had earlier tapped Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., (Metrobank) Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Banco De Oro Universal Bank (BDO) to manage P6 billion in net investments for a period of three years starting this year.

The three banks were assigned to be the local fund managers of the GSIS with a mandate of P2 billion each.

Gains of P10.4 billion from sales of stocks were also recorded during the first three quarters of 2007 from P756.3 million in the same period of 2006.

“The capital market, especially the equities market, experienced a boom year in 2007 and we expect this to continue in 2008,” Garcia said.

In terms of loans, GSIS has already granted P80 billion in loans and claims for the first nine months of last year, which already surpassed the figures registered during the whole year of 2006.

The GSIS granted P53.1 billion in loans and claims from January to September 2006. For the whole of 2006, the total amount of loans and claims granted was at P71.6 billion.

Garcia said GSIS members can expert bigger benefits and more services from GSIS in the current year following the fund’s rosy performance last year.