BANGKOK: Thailand's underperforming US$77 billion social security fund will invest US$11.6 billion in a new foray into global private assets, an executive told Reuters, part of a strategic overhaul to address its poor returns amid rising demand from an ageing population.
"At this rate, the fund could go bankrupt by 2051," said Petch, who joined the Social Security Fund earlier this year. The over-60 population has doubled from 6.2 million in 2004 to 13 million in December 2023, the data shows.NEW FACES, REFORMIST BACKING The new board has approved an investment framework starting in 2025 that will lower the fund's weighting of low-risk assets from 70 per cent to 60 per cent, and increase the concentration of higher-risk investments to 40 per cent from the current 30 per cent over the next 2-1/2-years, Petch said.
Analysts have long advocated a change in tack to meet swelling demands from the population, but point to trust issues and a lack of public faith due to the fund's history of mismanagement, high operating costs and underperformance.