Former banker Wick Veloso returns to GSIS after Ombudsman lifts suspension
Manila, Philippines – Former banker Jose Arnulfo “Wick” A. Veloso has resumed his job as president and general manager of state-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) after the Ombudsman lifted his two-month suspension.
Veloso, who was facing an Ombudsman-led probe over allegations that the GSIS under his watch breached the state insurer’s investment policy guidelines, defended his team’s decisions.
During his Tuesday guesting at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, Veloso said GSIS’s investments in listed online gaming company DigiPlus Interactive Corp. for instance yielded over 10 percent in dividends from its P1-billion investments in the stock in two-years’ time.
“We already made ₱139 million from that [stock investment],” Veloso said on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Veloso, a former CEO of the Philippine unit of British bank HSBC, said 72.6 percent of GSIS’s assets under management are “risk-free in nature.” GSIS portfolio counts the following: 40 percent government bonds (T-bills and T-bonds), loans to members and employees, real estate, 19 percent in stocks, and 5 percent in private entity funds.
“The balance are in cash and non-cash items to address the liquidity we need in times of need,” he said.
“So lahat ng ating pondo ay secured [So our funds are entirely secured],” he added.
Veloso took a jibe at the petitioner who filed a complaint before the Ombudsman.
“Kung yung pong nag-file ng anonymous complaint po sana ay kinausap kami at tinanong kami kung paano [yung investments], mas lalo po sana naming napaliwanag po yan,” he said.
[TRANSLATION: Had the one who filed the anonymous complaint talked to us and asked us how we make investment decisions, we could have explained it better.]
The fund grew by more than 22 percent, from P1.54 trillion in 2022 to P1.88 trillion as of June 2025. For the first half of 2025 alone, GSIS earned P172.7 billion, with net income reaching P77 billion, over 30 percent higher year-on-year.
Business News Anchor Lois Calderon contributed to this story.
