Understanding the power behind the PIC
The head of the Government Employees Pension Fund says the PIC has done a fine job of managing the fund’s assets — despite the controversy
When the FM goes to meet Abel Sithole, principal executive officer of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), he has been waylaid by a group of angry pensioners. Now running late, he apologises but says it’s part of the job to listen to their concerns.Asked about some of the Public Investment Corp’s (PIC) sketchiest investments in recent times, such as VBS Mutual Bank and Erin Energy, Sithole says: "Yes, not all the PIC’s decisions are correct, but that’s not by intention. It is unfortunately the nature of risk-taking. But if it’s found that certain decisions were taken wrongly, I think: bring people to book." Sithole argues that to get a true sense of how the PIC operates, you need to understand how the structure works. He explains that the GEPF "is not really part of government as people like to think. Government is the employer but it doesn’t own the assets of the GEPF." The GEPF is answerable to the pensioners, including on its choice of the PIC as its main asset manager —...
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