Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), which manages the Philippines' first sovereign wealth fund, is eyeing at least three new investments before the year ends, aiming to bring total capital commitments to as much as ₱37 billion just two years into its establishment.

In a telephone interview on Thursday, May 8, MIC President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rafael D. Consing Jr. said that from the current ₱28-29 billion in investments, additional commitments worth an estimated total of under ₱10 billion are in the pipeline across three or more upcoming projects.

To date, the one-and-a-half-year-old Maharlika Investment Fund has undertaken a ₱19.7-billion investment in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), where it now holds a 20-percent stake; MIC's strategic partnership with Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group Co. Ltd. for investments in agriculture and food production, digital innovation, as well as sustainable energy; and a $76.4-million bridge loan to Makilala Mining Co. Inc. to develop the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog copper-gold project in Kalinga province.

As the NGCP stake acquisition is MIC's first and flagship investment, the upcoming ventures would be smaller in amount, Consing said.

The ₱35-37 billion in total investments targeted for deployment by year-end will also include an upcoming transportation and logistics infrastructure transaction, he disclosed.

The MIC chief said no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jumpstart investment talks with a listed firm, which he declined to name, for the next venture. He only said that this company is “listed partly” in the local bourse.

"We will defer to them [the listed party] to make the announcement," Consing said.

He said MIC expects returns from its ongoing and forthcoming investments "two to three years down the line."

According to Consing, MIC's immediate impact on the Philippine economy will be on the investment side through capital deployment. "We are already doing that," he pointed out.

Consing also told Manila Bulletin that they are beefing up staffing, especially in the most critical investment as well as legal and transaction groups within MIC.

He disclosed that MIC last year hired seasoned fund manager Kheed Ng as deputy chief investment officer (CIO), who helped roll out the first three investments announced earlier this year.

Ng, who prior to MIC was senior principal at Houston-based boutique investment group Morningside Capital, had also held key roles at CPP Investments, Canada's pension plan investment board, Consing noted. "He's a really good guy; we're proud to have him on board," the MIC chief said of Ng, who's Filipino.

Consing said he did not hire Ng as CIO—only as deputy—as promoting him to the chief position would make him co-terminus with the MIC chief. Consing's three-year term will end in November 2026, and it will be up to the President to choose the next MIC chief.

Republic Act (RA) No. 11954, which established MIC, nonetheless places no limit on the number of three-year terms a person may serve as president and CEO.

At present, MIC's crucial investment team is composed of 11 people—including Consing himself. They are targeting a 15-person investment group and a similar number for the legal and transaction team—which currently has nine members, also including the MIC chief.

In total, MIC currently has a "very lean" staff of 35, Consing said.

Until now, only Consing has a plantilla position at MIC, while all other staff are under contracts of service.

But Consing is optimistic that the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), which oversees government-owned and/or -controlled corporations and their budgets, will soon approve MIC's pending plantilla positions.

"We appreciate the support that all [regulatory and budget] agencies are giving us; they have to undergo a process. Now that they're done with it [firming-up GOCC budgets], we're beginning to reengage with them [the GCG],” Consing said.

While still untenured, Consing said MIC's staff "all love the country—they're patriots."

"We have a very strong investment team. All of them bring their abilities to the table," he said.

Since the sovereign wealth fund uses taxpayers' money, Consing said all investments approved and in the pipeline are subject to a "very stringent" approval framework from the investment committee, which evaluates and recommends proposals to the MIC board, vice-chaired by Consing and chaired by Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto, the Marcos administration's chief economic manager.

"We're dealing with a public fund, so we want to ensure that the level of due diligence is more robust—public funds are absolutely protected, with no exceptions," Consing said.

As such, MIC's investment decisions currently take six to eight months—much longer than in the private sector, where Consing previously worked—where similar decisions can be made in half the time, he noted.

This aligns with MIC's twin mandate of generating the required investment returns while ensuring social impact, according to Consing.