Public Investment Corporation SOC Ltd (PIC)

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is South Africa’s largest asset manager and, by assets under management, the largest on the African continent. The PIC’s assets under management reached about R3.05 trillion by March 2025, according to a provider record checked in August 2026. The government, through the Minister of Finance, wholly owns the PIC, which is based in Pretoria.

Registered name

Public Investment Corporation SOC Ltd (PIC)

Type

State-owned asset manager

Fields funded

Finance, investment, economics and related fields

Website

pic.gov.za

Email

bursaryapplications@pic.gov.za

Whose money the PIC manages

The PIC invests on behalf of public-sector clients rather than private investors. The largest is the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), which accounts for about R2.38 trillion of the assets and provides retirement benefits to about 1.2 million public servants and their dependants. The PIC also manages money for the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Commissioner Fund.

The PIC’s portfolio spans listed shares, bonds, property, private equity and impact investing. Because the PIC owns large stakes in many JSE-listed companies, its investment decisions affect the wider economy, and a commission of inquiry into the PIC in 2018 and 2019 examined governance failures and questionable investments. Strong governance and skilled investment professionals therefore matter to every public servant whose pension the PIC manages.

Why the PIC runs a bursary

The PIC established its bursary programme in 2017 to build a pipeline of black finance and investment professionals in an asset management industry that remains under-transformed relative to the country it serves, and to support academically strong students who cannot afford finance-related degrees. Funding covers tuition, prescribed books, housing and a monthly stipend.

Mentors and buddies

The PIC’s programme builds structured workplace exposure rather than a binding work-back contract. Bursars complete three-week vacation work placements during the June–July and December–January breaks, each paired with a dedicated mentor and a PIC graduate buddy. Top performers can progress into the PIC’s graduate development programme. Publicly available information does not describe a formal obligation to work for the PIC after graduating.

Timing

The 2026 bursary closed on 31 October 2025, and no 2027 date had been published when BursariesAfrica checked.

How to research the PIC

Read the PIC’s integrated annual report and learn how the GEPF works, since interviewers may ask why pension investing matters. Watch the bursaries page on the PIC’s website from September 2026.

See also the JSE Empowerment Fund bursary.