The Malaita Ma'asina Forum says the NPF Board and Management must consult with financial members before embarking on such investment initiative.
General Secretary of the Forum, William Gua, stated that the forum feels it has an obligation to raise concerns on behalf of NPF members, because 75 percent of contributors to the fund are from Malaita province.Mr Gua says NPF Boards continue to invest members' money in different business undertakings without consulting members. He says the NPF has an obligation to make sure that its members know what is happening with their money.
It has reported that the National Provident Fund NPF will invest 150-million dollars of its members' funds in off-shore businesses.
The Finance Minister, Gordon Darcy Lilo, has approved the plan to invest up to 150-million dollars of NPF-members' funds in various foreign investment asset classes and in four major currencies.
This will be disbursed over a period of six to 12 months.
The Minister said this would link the performance of the Fund's investments portfolio to some of the world's strongest economies.
Chairman of the NPF Board, Adrian Wickham, said investment areas will include property trust, managed fund and shares, which will be in British Pounds, American and Australian Dollars as well as the Euro.
Mr Wickham said the Fund is very liquid with very huge cash in the banking system, but the money is not earning enough interest for members.