Infrastructure is executives main bet
O Estado de S. Paulo
One of the main bets of the pension funds to ensure growth in the coming years is the infrastructure sector, the biggest bottleneck of the Brazilian economy. Besides the pre-salt layer, projects such as those of the Hydroelectric Power Plant of Belo Monte and the High-Speed Train (HST) have appeared on the radar of executives who manage the money of the workers. "The opportunities are everywhere, in electric energy, transports, logistics and in the oil and gas chain", says the Chief Financial Officer of Petros, Luís Carlos Afonso.
According to him, the electric sector, for instance, has important characteristics for the pension funds that must have a portfolio of long-term investments in order to meet the actuarial goals. "The undertakings in the sector are long-term and low risk undertakings. After making the initial allocation of funds, the investment becomes fixed income", he says.
As for Belo Monte, he affirms Petros is discussing with some partners. The same situation is described by the Investments Director of Funcef (the fund of the Brazilian Federal Savings Bank - Caixa Economica Federal), Demósthenes Marques. He says, however, that a participation in the undertaking may only be defined after the bidding rules are published.
"We will only know whether the project is risky or not after the release of the rules of the game, such as the definition of price and total investment. Anyway, the works of Belo Monte are more complex than the others". They say it is possible that the funds also invest in works related to the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics. The participation would take place through the Invepar, an infrastructure company formed by the funds Previ, Petros, Funcef and by the building company OAS. The company already has participation in road (Raposo Tavares, in São Paulo) and subway (Subway of Rio de Janeiro) concessions.