Customs employees fund hits P130 M

A provident fund owned and managed by Bureau of Customs (BOC) employees has grown to nearly P130 million as of the end of last year from only P8 million in 2005 on strong gains from non-speculative investments, long-term deposits and guaranteed loan payment thru salary deduction.

The Provident Fund, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has a reserve fund of P5 million, which serves as a buffer to cover both programmed and unscheduled expenses.

BOC-PFI chair John Simon said the fund posted an impressive growth because of the management team’s conservative investment strategy.

“Our fiscal management philosophy is to focus solely on investments that can weather market fluctuations better than the rest. We are risk-averse which means that at any given time, we would rather err on the side of capital safety,’’ BOC-PFI general manager Siegfred “Yeye” Manaois also said.

Manaois, a career service professional who took over the fund’s management in 2012 after serving as assistant general manager for two years, said the preference for low risk investments has shielded the fund from market uncertainties.

As a result, the management team has been able to provide a higher allocation for emergency loans.

For this year, the fund has allocated a P31 million standby facility for members’ emergency loan requirements, more than double the P12.6 million borrowed by some 533 members last year.

Manaois said the fund serves as an economic safety net for its members.