MANILA: The Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund is preparing to make its first investment in the next three to four months, likely in infrastructure and energy, its chief executive officer said.
Maharlika Investment Corp is aiming to start discussions on a potential investment in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, Rafael Consing Jr, the fund’s president and CEO said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in Davos on Thursday (Jan 18).
"There are probably gaps just in terms of what they’ve been able to achieve, and we think that we can bridge that gap both from a regulatory and from a capital perspective,” Consing said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took National Grid, the operator of the country’s transmission network, to task for the recent power outage in the central Panay Island.
National Grid is owned by local investors in partnership with State Grid Corporation of China, which has a 40% stake. Maharlika’s investment will unlikely dilute China’s shareholding, Consing said.
Consing added there’s no strategy to re-nationalise strategic assets through Maharlika. "This is really just being able to capture some of these opportunities that are out there,” he said, adding that the fund will focus on the nation’s development goals in its first five years.
While Maharlika is not planning to raise fresh capital anytime soon, Consing said the fund is looking to tap investors in Middle East and South-East Asia.
Maharlika’s board held its first meeting early this month and approved a 125 billion pesos (US$2.24 billion) capitalisation plan that it aims to invest in infrastructure, oil, gas, power, mineral processing, tourism, transportation and aviation.
A crisis similar to what hit Malaysia’s scandal-tainted state investment fund 1MDB will not occur in Maharlika given its safeguards, Consing said. - Bloomberg
