COMPANY COMMENT
GEPF’s over reliance on Naspers poses a risk
The Mpati commission will hopefully provide some insight, and might also shed light on the declining trend in the GEPF’s funding level
Abel Sithole, principal executive officer of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), gave an insightful and persuasive account of why the biggest pension fund in the country would consider investing in Eskom at a press conference recently. Critically, he did stress the investment would have to be “under the right terms and conditions”. Essentially, Sithole explained that if Eskom were to fail — on a permanent basis rather than just occasionally failing to supply us with electricity — it would be a severe knock to everyone in the economy. Sithole’s point begs the question: how many investments are made that are not under the right terms and conditions? Surely this is a basic requirement and one that should be adhered to by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which manages the bulk of the GEPF’s almost R2-trillion of assets. The findings of the Mpati commission will hopefully provide some insight. They might also shed light on the declining trend in the GEPF’s funding level...
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