South Africa. Govt won’t force pensions to be invested in infrastructure projects, says deputy fin minister
– Government does not intend to force pensions to be invested in certain assets, says Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo.
– Amendments to regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act is purely to broaden the scope of investments trustees of funds can consider, he said.
– Masondo says trustees have a fiduciary duty to deliver better returns to members of funds.
Government has no intention of forcing pension funds to invest in specified projects or assets which will not yield optimal returns, says Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo.
Masondo was responding to questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni could not attend the sitting.
During the session, Democratic Alliance MP Dion George asked if pension funds would be forced to invest in government’s infrastructure programme.
“There is no intention from government to oblige retirement funds on how to invest, be it in government infrastructure or any other projects or investments,” Masondo said.
“All investment decisions are ultimately the duty of the board of trustees who decide which assets retirement funds should be invested in as per the fund’s investment mandate,” he added.
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