Maharlika Fund: A top taxpayer with billions barely invested
MANILA, Philippines – Three years after its rocky start, the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) can now boast of profits, investment returns, and an unlikely new distinction: it is among Taguig City’s top 100 taxpayers.
The recognition covered tax year 2025 and came less than two years after Maharlika established its headquarters in the city. The Taguig City government did not disclose MIC’s exact ranking or the tax amount it paid, but the award offers the still-young sovereign wealth fund another badge of legitimacy after its creation and launch was dogged by questions over governance, political interference, and the use of capital from two state-owned banks.
Its financial statements, however, show a fund that’s still juggling two opposing identities: an active investor in strategic infrastructure and a very large depositor earning interest while waiting for projects.
Based on its unaudited financial statements for FY 2025, Maharlika earned a net income of P2.36 billion for the year, down nearly 12% from the previous year as the cost of building the institution rose sharply. Operating expenses jumped more than fivefold to P479 million, including P213 million spent on professional services for advisers, due diligence, and transaction work.
This might sound like plenty of money to spend for talent, but this increase in costs is not necessarily unusual for a young investment fund assembling a team and evaluating complex deals. MIC also said its expenses remained well below the statutory cap of 2% of funds under management. Still, the sharp rise helps explain why profit declined even as business income remained broadly flat.
Maharlika also remained profitable in early 2026, earning P628.8 million in the first quarter.
So where is MIC actually earning money from? A look at its unaudited 2025 results shows that most of it still came from funds waiting to be invested. The overwhelming majority of business income was interest earned from placements with Landbank of the Philippines (Landbank), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, rather than returns from strategic projects.
This is a cautious approach. Parking money in low-risk instruments is arguably better than rushing public funds into poorly studied projects. But it also means Maharlika’s early profitability is not yet that of a sovereign wealth fund making transformative investments into big-ticket projects.
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What are Maharlika’s current investments?
Of the P75 billion in initial cash capital contributed by Landbank and DBP, Maharlika had deployed only P5.9 billion, or less than 8%, into strategic investments by the end of 2025. It still held P71.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, mostly in interest-bearing placements.
The P5.9 billion was spread across three early bets:
- Around P4.2 billion in Asian Terminals Inc. MIC held ATI shares valued at P3.1 billion at year-end, while another P1.11 billion was recorded as a deposit for stock purchases that had yet to be completed. Its stake stood at about 4.8%, with the contemplated transactions potentially raising this to as much as 11.2%. The investment was carrying unrealized losses at the time.
- P1.2 billion in Synergy Grid and Development Philippines. The listed company holds an indirect interest in National Grid Corporation of the Philippines. MIC said the investment generated P589.2 million in dividends and unrealized gains in 2025.
- P426.9 million in Makilala Mining Company. The bridge loan financed engineering, feasibility studies, and early development work for a copper-gold project. It generated P18.4 million in interest in 2025. MIC has since exited the investment. (READ: [Vantage Point] Is Maharlika’s mining venture worth it?)
The portfolio shows Maharlika concentrating its earliest bets in its four strategic pillars: energy, logistics, mining, and agriculture.
But Maharlika’s announced pipeline is considerably broader than its current investments:
- Petron credit line. MIC offered Petron a short-term revolving facility of up to P15 billion for crude oil and petroleum-product purchases. The deal was pitched as both an investment and a fuel-security measure, although MIC has not disclosed whether Petron has drawn from it.
- Mindoro and Palawan grids. MIC is studying possible investments in the two island grids. In Mindoro, it may acquire and rehabilitate transmission assets owned by the National Power Corporation. In Palawan, it has signed a memorandum of agreement to fund initial technical and financial studies before deciding whether to invest.
- Bataan fuel storage. MIC signed an exploratory agreement with the Philippine National Oil Company for a possible petroleum storage facility targeted for 2028. The project remains under evaluation, including its financing structure and potential private-sector partners.
- Agriculture. This remains a conspicuous gap. Although MIC has identified the sector as one of its four priority pillars, it has yet to announce a completed investment deal or exploratory talks with a specific company. Its most concrete move so far was a 2025 agreement with Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group to explore opportunities in agri-food modernization, but no specific project has emerged.
The harder test
Maharlika is now preparing to apply for regular membership in the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds. It recently partnered with Morocco’s Ithmar Capital on governance, benchmarking, internal audit, corporate planning, and compliance with the Santiago Principles followed by leading sovereign funds.
Now, the question was never whether Maharlika could make money on paper. With billions of pesos parked in interest-bearing deposits, earning a profit was always going to be the easy part.
The harder test is whether MIC can deploy public money into productive assets while protecting the fund from political pressure, weak deals, and conflicts of interest. This is something it has yet to prove. Still, sovereign funds often take time to build a credible pipeline, and Maharlika has reason to move carefully after its controversial start.
MIC chief executive officer Rafael Consing Jr. has effectively acknowledged that the fund is still early into its life, describing it as “an investment agency acting as a start-up at this stage operating within the framework of government rules and regulations,” according to an MIC press release. – Rappler.com
