The assets of the GEPF are primarily managed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).   

The PIC is wholly owned by the South African government and is the only asset manager that serves South Africa’s public sector. It takes care of the investment needs of about 35 public sector pension, provident, social security, development and guardian funds. 

The PIC is registered with the Financial Services Board (FSB) as a financial services provider and is required to follow FSB-approved client investment mandates when investing funds. The corporation’s annual financial statements are audited by the Auditor-General of South Africa.

What Do We Invest In? 

When making investments for the GEPF, the PIC invests in four main asset classes, namely:  

• Equities;
• Fixed Income;
• Properties; and
• Isibaya Fund.

Equities are shares of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). About 75% of the equities owned by the GEPF are managed by the PIC, with the other 25% being managed by external fund managers. This is in line with the investment mandate that the GEPF has provided to the PIC. 

Fixed income means investments in the domestic capital (bond) and money markets. In the money markets, we only invest in instruments offered by domestic banks. In the case of bonds, we invest in bonds traded through the Bond Exchange of South Africa or issued by government, parastatals and companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Limited.  

The GEPF has investments in retail, corporate, industrial and specialised properties across South Africa. We also have strategic investments such as the 20% share in the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA).  

The Isibaya Fund invests in black economic empowerment and infrastructure development projects that help to create jobs, alleviate poverty and transform the economy. 

Socially Responsible Investment 

The GEPF is among the leaders in socially responsible investment in South Africa and has been a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment since 2006. As such, we take environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into account when making investment decisions. We also encourage the companies we invest in to strike a balance between profits and being socially responsible, and to actively manage their environmental impact while maintaining high levels of corporate governance standards.  

We are committed to helping to build a better society and to play our part in making this happen. Some of the highlights of our efforts to do this include: 

• Developing and implementing a Responsible Investment Policy (RIP) to guide all the GEPF’s investment decisions.
   
• Leading the launch in early 2009 of the Principles of Responsible Investment Network in South Africa. This was in the spirit of promoting the Principles within the local pension fund industry and within the wider investment community.
   
• Assisting the JSE to review of its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) index for 2008. The SRI index is used to assess how socially responsible South Africa’s top listed companies are by looking at how well they care for the environment, how socially relevant they are and how seriously they take good corporate governance.
   
• Through the PIC, engaging listed companies whose corporate governance and transformation, for example, have been unsatisfactory.