Philippine state pension fund eyes energy stocks

(Reuters) - Philippine pension fund Social Security System (SSS) could increase investments in local equities by up to 20 billion pesos ($470 million) and is particularly interested in energy stocks, its president and CEO said on Thursday.

The state-run fund for private sector workers, which has stakes in leading telecom Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co and top gold and copper miner Philex Mining Corp , expects to beat its net revenue target of 16 billion pesos this year given the stock market's rise to a record high.

Its net revenue last year was 22 billion pesos.

"We should be able to do better than that," president and CEO Emilio de Quiros told a media forum, referring to this year's net revenue target.

"(Energy) is a sector that we are looking at, the potential is there. It's a sector that could provide good returns for us," he said, adding the fund may buy shares in initial public offerings of energy firms.

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