Fiji Government bonds held by the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) stood at $3.5 billion in 2021.
This according to the FNPF’s 2021 annual report that was tabled in Parliament recently.
Government bonds stood at $3.4 billion in 2020.
FNPF said bonds were most commonly traded as government securities.
“Bonds can be a significant part of any superannuation fund’s investment profile particularly when it comes to long-term investments,” the report read.
“More specifically, government bonds are a key strategy to diversify investment portfolios and to reduce risk.”
According to the FNPF report, the tenure of government bonds ranged from five to 40 years.
“Such maturity terms are accommodative to investment needs of funds’ whose member retirement profiles match and require such long-term earnings.
“Investing in government bonds provides guaranteed returns and are less risky than other assets.
“There are market-related risks associated with government bonds, but holding the bonds until maturity can nullify these risks.”
FNPF said the bonds portfolio was largely stable and performed well when other asset classes were under pressure.
“FNPF’s investment strategies have been aligned to its member’s retirement profiles and have proven to be successful since the early 1970s.
