Investment boost questioned

Rukchanok Srinork, a People’s Party MP for Bangkok, said the Social Security Fund (SSF) was seeking to raise its off-market investments from 10 billion baht to 130 billion baht.

Ms Rukchanok said she was extremely worried about such a large investment after the heated purchase of the SKYY9 Centre building on Rama IX Road by the controversial Social Security Office (SSO), again raising transparency issues. The SSO manages the SSF.

The 6.9 billion baht spent on the building was part of the 9.4 billion baht previously approved to fund the SSO’s earlier off-market investments, she said. It said the other 3 billion baht had been used for investment abroad.

The MP said the SSO might have bought the building for too high a price, as it was valued at just 3 billion baht. It has led Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to order a fact-finding investigation into the purchase.

Ms Rukchanok said she was not against off-market investments, but she hoped the SSO would develop an acceptable standard for managing investment risks, which can generate good returns.

“If proper risk management criteria are not drawn up, there can be no assurance that the purchase of an asset like the SKYY9 building will not be repeated,” she said. Marasri Jairangsee, the SSO secretary-general, said on Tuesday the SSO bought the building through the Private Equity Trust, an investment vehicle created by the Trust for Transactions in the Capital Market Act, which is overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Two independent estimators certified by the SEC, she said, evaluated the building’s value.

She said the price had been estimated at 7.3 billion baht using the income approach formula, but the cost approach put it at 8 billion baht. But the SSO spent 6.9 billion baht to purchase the building, she said.

In response to the SSO secretary-general’s remarks, Ms Rukchanok said she would send a letter to the SSO today asking for documents that explain how the building was appraised and the price it was appraised for. She also further questioned yesterday, more about the SKYY9 building purchase, including why the SSO, which has no expertise in property management chose to buy one, single, large building over investing in a property fund.