EC State Insurance Fund yields P1.67-billion average income from investments for the past five years

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) continues to manage a sound, strong, wisely-invested and protected State Insurance Fund (SIF) as it reaps an average of P433-million investment income in the public sector and P1.24-billion investment income in the private sector annually in the last five years.

“The commission is committed in implementing effective long-term financial goals to secure the stability of EC-SIF. The careful management of the EC-SIF has been one of our priorities ever since and the investments made by SSS and GSIS for the SIF were thoroughly reviewed and approved by the ECC board,” said ECC executive director Stella Zipagan-Banawis.

In 2014, the ECC issued a board resolution authorizing the SSS to expand the investment portfolio of the SIF to include domestic equities and fixed income securities.

Labor and Employment Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad III, chairman – alternate of ECC, added that for the past several years, the private sector EC-SIF administered by the Social Security System (SSS) had invested in low income-generating schemes such as co-mingled investment in SSS loans and in bank deposits, while the public sector EC-SIF managed by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) limited its investments to ROP bills and cash deposits in bank. Both did not yield high investment income for the EC-SIF.

“The commission considered the possibility of an increase in the return of investment of its investible SIF through an expanded investment portfolio given the healthy financial market indicators and GNP growth of our country,” said Lagunzad.

In 2017, the EC-SIF earned a five-percent Return of Investment (ROI) from its P17.61-billion investment in the public sector while in the private sector, the EC-SIF made a notable six-percent ROI from its P34.56-billion investment.

Based on reports from SSS and GSIS on the SIF financial status as of September 2018, the GSIS EC-SIF has a total investment of P18.59 billion with two-percent ROI while the SSS EC-SIF has a total investment of P36.64 billion with four-percent ROI.

The total reserves for future payment of EC claims in both private and public sector now amounts to P61.55 billion as of September 2018 compared to the P47.1 billion in 2014 or an increase of 30.7 percent.

The revenues were primarily driven by the apt collection of members’ contributions and investments by both systems.

“The income from the investments the ECC placed has been a great help in improving the benefits and services that the EC Program provides to persons with work-related disabilities (PWRDs),” said Labor and Employment Secretary and ECC chairperson Silvestre Bello III.

The ECC assures the public that the EC-SIF remains strong and stable even with the continuing enhancement of employees’ compensation benefits. ECC also guarantees the public that the recent increases in benefits will not require any increase in contributions from the employers.

For inquiries about the Employees’ Compensation Program, email ECC at ecc.ipad2012@gmail.com or call 899-4251 local 227 for free on-site seminars.