Biggest Philippine Pension Fund Sees 9% Stocks Rally

The Philippines’ benchmark stock index will advance about 9 percent in the next 12 months as Asia’s fastest economic expansion and record-low interest rates boost earnings, according to the country’s biggest pension fund.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index, which is down 11 percent from a record 7,392.20 on May 15, may climb to 7,200 from yesterday’s close of 6,583.55, Robert Vergara, president of the Government Service Insurance System, said in an interview in Manila yesterday. The fund, which manages about 725 billion pesos ($16.7 billion) for more than 1.4 million state workers, will add to its 16.5 percent weighting in equities should the PSE index drop below 6,000, Vergara said. The gauge fell 0.5 percent to 6,553.21 at 11:45 a.m. in Manila.