China's $70 billion national pension fund will boost equity stakes in domestic companies and invest in the infrastructure industry, its chairman said.
``Many global pension funds are moving aggressively into alternative investments, but I'm bullish on real-economy investments and plan to boost our equity stakes in Chinese companies,'' Dai Xianglong said today in an interview in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai.
China's government is exploring the transfer of listed- company equity stakes to the National Council for Social Security Fund, or NSSF, as another source of funds for the pension agency, Dai said, without providing further details.
The fund earned more than 110 billion yuan ($15 billion) on its investments last year, giving returns of more than 30 percent, as stocks soared, Dai said. China's benchmark CSI 300 Index was the world's best performer in 2007 with a local- currency gain of 162 percent.
Improved returns will help the Beijing-based agency extend coverage to more of the country's 1.3 billion people, as their average age rises.
The fund invests in four asset classes: fixed-income, stocks, currencies and equity stakes, said Dai. The agency takes a ``cautious'' approach to stock investing and has no plans to lift its ceiling on buying equities, he said. He didn't give allocation breakdowns of the asset classes.
Low-Risk Investments
The pension agency said in September 2006 that it put more than 1 billion yuan into the 20 billion yuan Bohai Industrial Investment Fund Management Co. , the nation's first government- backed private-equity fund.
``China's infrastructure industry offers a lot of good, long-term, lower-risk opportunities,'' Dai said. ``Our main focus will be domestic since there's so much potential here.''
In terms of overseas investments, the fund will gradually expand abroad, Dai said. It had ``almost no subprime-related losses,'' he said.
In November 2006, the NSSF appointed UBS AG and nine other fund managers to help it invest overseas. NSSF had put $1.7 billion of its money abroad by the end of last year.
Global fund companies began competing to manage the money after the government dropped a restriction that limited the Beijing-based pension agency to domestic markets.
Dai, a former central bank governor, was named chairman of the country's social security fund last month.
``Many global pension funds are moving aggressively into alternative investments, but I'm bullish on real-economy investments and plan to boost our equity stakes in Chinese companies,'' Dai Xianglong said today in an interview in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai.
China's government is exploring the transfer of listed- company equity stakes to the National Council for Social Security Fund, or NSSF, as another source of funds for the pension agency, Dai said, without providing further details.
The fund earned more than 110 billion yuan ($15 billion) on its investments last year, giving returns of more than 30 percent, as stocks soared, Dai said. China's benchmark CSI 300 Index was the world's best performer in 2007 with a local- currency gain of 162 percent.
Improved returns will help the Beijing-based agency extend coverage to more of the country's 1.3 billion people, as their average age rises.
The fund invests in four asset classes: fixed-income, stocks, currencies and equity stakes, said Dai. The agency takes a ``cautious'' approach to stock investing and has no plans to lift its ceiling on buying equities, he said. He didn't give allocation breakdowns of the asset classes.
Low-Risk Investments
The pension agency said in September 2006 that it put more than 1 billion yuan into the 20 billion yuan Bohai Industrial Investment Fund Management Co. , the nation's first government- backed private-equity fund.
``China's infrastructure industry offers a lot of good, long-term, lower-risk opportunities,'' Dai said. ``Our main focus will be domestic since there's so much potential here.''
In terms of overseas investments, the fund will gradually expand abroad, Dai said. It had ``almost no subprime-related losses,'' he said.
In November 2006, the NSSF appointed UBS AG and nine other fund managers to help it invest overseas. NSSF had put $1.7 billion of its money abroad by the end of last year.
Global fund companies began competing to manage the money after the government dropped a restriction that limited the Beijing-based pension agency to domestic markets.
Dai, a former central bank governor, was named chairman of the country's social security fund last month.
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