BIZ BUZZ: Leave it to GSIS
It has been quite an eventful year for Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso, the embattled president and general manager of state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
The calls are clear and mounting: his “immediate and irrevocable” resignation from the fund, as well as the pullout of GSIS’ investments in certain stocks that have supposedly resulted in P8.8 billion in losses.
Veloso himself has denied these allegations, but an analyst also weighed in.
For Joey Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc., those leading the calls should just let Veloso decide when to buy and when to sell.
“That’s in the best interest of GSIS,” Roxas told Biz Buzz.
While there technically has been a “paper loss” already for GSIS, which bought shares in former stock market darling DigiPlus Interactive Corp. in 2024, selling now could result in actual losses for the fund.
“I don’t think they should [pull out] because GSIS has always been a participant in the local stock market,” Roxas added.
Apart from DigiPlus, GSIS also has investments in Monde Nissin Corp., Nickel Asia Corp. and Bloomberry Resorts Corp.
But it’s more than just investing in well-known companies.
“Rather than big deals, if they can trade small deals every day, it will increase liquidity in the market,” Roxas said.
“The market needs to be liquid so that bigger funds can enter … Who better than GSIS and SSS (Social Security System) to do that? They have the funds,” he added.
Let’s see if Veloso will also be firm in keeping GSIS’ stock investments—or if “real” losses are on the way.
