Charles

Against the the background of a $1.2 billion erosion in its stock portfolio value between March last year and the same month this year, and additional losses possible from a continuing still lacklustre equities market, the National Insurance Fund (NIF) is being relentless in attempts to sell some of its properties, from which it expects to pull in $83.8 million this year.

But the real estate held by the state-owned fund that finances pension benefits for some 90,000 Jamaicans, has been on the market for some time and, so far, there are no takers. The NIF hopes to interest buyers, but is cognisant that a sluggish property market might force it to hold on to the assets and forgo the expected cash a while longer.

The properties include a 2.5-acre residential subdivision and 7,400-square foot lot in St Ann, as well as shop spaces in the Portmore Mall in St Catherine.

"It is land that we have no plans to develop and we bought it with the intention of selling it," Audrey Deer-Williams, senior director of investment at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said this week of the land on the block.

"We have had them on the market for sometime and we are just readvertising them."

The Village Green subdivision is part of a residential development in which the NIF was involved in since the 1990s.

"It was actually a housing development and we sold some but we had these two little pieces left and from time to time we advertise," said Deer-Williams.

The NIF is looking to raise $35 million from the 2.5 acres of land while the lot is being sold for $3 million.

Williams told Wednesday Business that the asking prices are based on recent valuations.

The Portmore Mall spaces include a 17,306-square foot area, which in the 1990s housed a popular skating rink. The space is being sold for $23.5 million.

The NIF is also selling a 5,416-square foot shop at the mall for $22.3 million.

"If we don't get the price that we want we will keep them," the NIF official said.

"We have valuations and we are obliged to sell at valuation."

No doubt influenced by the difficulty it is having offloading the properties, Deer-Williams said the fund has no intention to put any more of its real estate on the market this year

Established in 1990, the NIF holds a mix of investment properties, including commercial, resort and residential.

Significant holdings

It also has significant holdings in money market instruments, such as Government of Jamaica local registered stocks, investment debentures, foreign currency bonds and deposits, GOJ land and infrastructure bonds and short-term paper.

The NIF reported that it held $4.5 billion in listed equity investments at March this year, with other holdings in unlisted shares and unit trusts.

In June the labour and social security minister, Pearnel Charles, reported that the NIF stood at $52.47 billion at the end of March 2009. This was down from $54.2 billion last year, but more than the $49.8 billion at March 2007.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com