Introduction to Eduardo Salaburu and InverCap Afore
Eduardo Salaburu, the General Director of InverCap Afore, has expressed enthusiasm for investing in infrastructure, particularly projects under Mexico’s Plan México. As a prominent figure in the Afore sector, Salaburu’s insights carry significant weight in shaping Mexico’s investment landscape.
The Challenge: Identifying Mature Projects
Salaburu highlighted that the primary challenge for the Afore sector is identifying mature projects. He mentioned that InverCap has been actively positioning itself in more projects, with a particular interest in roads, transmission, and electricity generation.
Collaboration with the Government
To tackle this challenge, Salaburu revealed that the Afore sector is working with the government to propose an initiative for “reciclamiento de activos maduros” (recycling mature assets). This idea aims to allow Afores to take on the risk for the government’s mature and stabilized projects, effectively purchasing them.
Benefits of the Proposed Initiative
By implementing this mechanism, which has proven successful in Australia, Afores would gain access to profitable, successful, and mature projects. Simultaneously, the government would have increased access to capital.
Key Investment Areas
Currently, InverCap Afore invests 65% of workers’ resources in government debt, 10% in structured instruments, and the remainder in equity. Approximately 7% of their investments are in structured instruments, which include an infrastructure component. Additionally, there is a separate Fibra component with an infrastructure focus.
Other Challenges in the Afore Sector
Relevance of Managed Assets: As a percentage of GDP, the managed assets are nearing 22%, and this figure is expected to surpass 30% and eventually reach 40%. The challenge lies in effectively deploying these funds, requiring a robust offering of investment vehicles with sufficient depth and size that meet all investment expectations and project evaluation parameters.
Promoting Voluntary Savings: Another challenge is finding mechanisms to encourage workers’ voluntary savings, which could potentially drive replacement rates above 100% if managed disciplinedly.
Evolving Investment Regime: The Afore investment regime must continue to mature and evolve, moving closer to international standards that offer greater investment flexibility worldwide. This is crucial to avoid the risk of insufficient attractive investment alternatives due to the size of resources.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is the main challenge for the Afore sector? The primary challenge is identifying mature projects.
- What is the proposed solution to this challenge? The Afore sector is working with the government to propose an initiative for “reciclamiento de activos maduros” (recycling mature assets).
- What benefits does the proposed initiative offer? Afores would gain access to profitable, successful, and mature projects, while the government would have increased access to capital.
- What are InverCap Afore’s current investment areas? InverCap Afore invests 65% in government debt, 10% in structured instruments, and the remainder in equity. Approximately 7% is in structured instruments with an infrastructure component, and there is a separate Fibra component with an infrastructure focus.
- What other challenges does the Afore sector face? The sector must effectively deploy managed assets, promote voluntary savings, and continue evolving the investment regime to meet international standards.
