Thailand’s Government Pension Fund plans to leave behind the low yields of its own domestic bonds in favor of investing funds in U.S. and European properties, saying that it believes the “stagnant economic environment” in Europe and the U.S. present opportunities to increase returns.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that the fund, which manages approximately $17.5 billion in assets and is the third largest money manager in the country, plans to buy properties this year totaling about $250 million, according to Sopawadee Lertmanaschai, the agency’s secretary general. She added that the agency is currently choosing companies to advise it on these investments.
It has also hired Pacific Investment Management Co., MFS Investment Management and seven other companies to manage its investments totaling $1.5 billion in global bonds and equities.
“The stagnant economic environment in the U.S. and Europe offers a great opportunity for property investments because of attractive prices,” Sopawadee said in the report. “Global property investment is our strategy to become more aggressive and dynamic in boosting returns for our pensioners.”