GEPF wins African Pension Fund Initiative of the Year Award
Africa investor announced the winners of the 2013 Africa investor (Ai) Index Series
Awards, which were held at an exclusive, invitation-only ceremony at the New York
Stock Exchange.
Brooklyn, Pretoria (Thursday, 26 September 2013) — The Government Employees
Pension Fund (GEPF) walked off with the inaugural Africa investor African Pension Fund
Initiative of the Year award. The annual Africa Investor Index Series Awards 2013 took
place at the New York Stock Exchange on 21 September 2013.
The Awards are designed to recognise Africa's best performing stock exchanges, listed
companies, investment banks, research teams, regulators, socially responsible
companies and fund managers. The guest list included Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the
Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
This year, Africa investor (Ai) introduced two new categories aimed at recognising the
outstanding efforts by pension funds investing in Africa: the Africa investor African
Pension Fund Initiative of the Year (won by GEPF) and the International Pension Fund
Initiative of the Year (awarded to the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund).
GEPF Principal Executive Officer John Oliphant said the Fund was proud to receive the
recognition for its strategy on the African continent, pointing out that with over one billion
people and a rapidly growing middle class, Africa was ripe for investment and presented
exciting investment opportunities for investors looking for good returns. "GEPF has
backed its investment conviction with action and has allocated 5 per cent of its over
R1.2-trillion worth of assets under management to be invested in the rest of the
continent," he said.
The Africa investor Index Series Awards ceremony coincided with the 6th annual Africa
investor CEO Institutional Investment Summit held in association with NYSE Euronext.
The Summit brought together over 250 international investors, African CEOs, pension
funds and capital market professionals to explore investment partnerships in African
assets and equities.
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Notes to Editor:
About the GEPF
The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) is South Africa’s largest pension
fund with more than 1.2-million active members and 375 000 pensioners and
beneficiaries. It has more than R1.2-trillion in assets under management and is the
single largest investor in Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed companies.