It has become a hot topic nationwide among workers as the largest lifetime savings—the Social Security Fund—is being questioned over its management efficiency amid rumors of a major restructuring.
Most recently, on 27 Jan 2026, the Social Security Board convened to approve a new investment policy plan, known as “SAA Phase 2” (2027-2031), which aims to overhaul the portfolio by raising the risky asset ceiling to 50%, equal to stable assets (50:50), to avoid future returns falling short of expenditures.
Meanwhile, politically, Labor Minister Treenuch Thienthong has ordered an urgent overhaul of the social security system, promoting an “independence” model similar to the Government Pension Fund (GPF) to build a sustainable system for all insured members.
Official data from the Social Security Office (as of 31 Dec 2025) shows the following overview:
Looking back to 2016, the fund’s size has increased dramatically—nearly 100% growth over 10 years.
Recognized profits (returns) have fluctuated with market cycles. Each year, the fund earns revenue mainly from two sources: interest/profit from bonds and dividends/profit from equities.
Overall, the top-performing year was 2019, with profits exceeding 85.6 billion baht. Lower years included 2018 and 2023, with profits around 55 to 58 billion baht.
The latest situation in 2025 shows total returns exceeding 80 billion baht, according to recent disclosures by the Social Security Office.
One key question in restructuring the Social Security Fund is how accurately the reported investment returns reflect the reality of the 2.8 trillion baht portfolio.
Recently, Phanthira Vergara, Deputy Subcommittee Member for Private Market Investment Advisory of the Social Security Fund, pointed out that the issue is not the quality of returns but the Thai reporting system, which still uses statutory reporting recognizing only realized profit or loss from asset sales, without reflecting the economic value of the entire portfolio. This prevents a true assessment of the fund’s health.
In the case of the reported 80 billion baht profit and 6.31% return in 2025, based on assets of 2.8 trillion baht, the economic return should be about 176 billion baht. This indicates that nearly 100 billion baht of return is missing—not due to lost money but because of non-standard accounting methods that reflect sales timing more than actual portfolio management performance.
Phanthira stated that a large fund like Social Security should adopt mark-to-market reporting, similar to leading funds worldwide, to show the total portfolio value, risks, and volatility. Especially as investments in private assets increase, lacking clear valuation systems could obscure the portfolio’s true risks unknowingly.
Dr. Pipat Luangnarumitchai, Chief Economist at Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group (KKP), offered policy insights, saying that given the risk ceiling, Thailand’s Social Security Fund achieves an average return of 3.5%, while global averages range from 7-9%, as it is restricted from taking higher risks.
This may be due to an overreliance on Thai stocks for too long, despite greater growth opportunities abroad. A crucial issue is "governance" in investment decisions, questioning why investments are made in certain real estate projects that society doubts, and why top professionals are not hired to manage the fund more efficiently.
"We may need to stop focusing solely on profit figures and instead emphasize asset allocation policies, returns by asset class, and the professionalism and governance of fund managers to ensure our money grows with the dignity befitting a national-level fund," he added.
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