GSIS profit grows 69% in 2017

State-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said that its audited net income increased by more than half last year on robust revenues from the pension fund’s financial assets.

In a statement, the pension fund for government employees said yesterday that its profit reached billion last year, up by 69 percent compared with

billion in the previous year. According to GSIS, the increase in profit was largely accounted for by income from financial assets which almost doubled to billion from billion in 2016.

In particular, the increase came from the gains on valuation of traded stocks, which reached billion, reversing the loss of million in the previous year.

The stock market had a stellar year in 2017 as Philippine equities posted a record high of 8,558.4 points.

Income from insurance climbed nearly 10 percent to reach O107.2 billion beefed up by contributions of members who have reached 1.7 million as of end December 2017.

Meanwhile, revenue from loans inched up five percent to billion from billion in 2016. On the expenditure side, GSIS paid close to billion in social insurance claims and benefits, representing an eight percent growth from last year’s level of billion.

Payments to old-age pension amounted to billion from, while expanded grant of survivorship benefits reached

million and life insurance claims amounted to million.

Boosted by the increased income, GSIS’ total assets went up by nine percent to trillion.

Jesus Clint Aranas, GISS president and general manager said that for 2018, “our focus is to plug financial leakages to guard the returns and manage our expenses to generate savings.” (CSL)