KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) total investment funds stood at RM1.1 trillion as of Aug 31, 2023, according to Deputy Finance Minister II Steven Sim.
Sim said that of the amount, the average domestic investments stood at 64.9%, including 24.4% in the domestic-listed equities.
He said that besides EPF, other government-linked investment companies (GLIC), including Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP), Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), invested more than 60% of their investment fund in the domestic market for the period from 2019 to Aug 31 this year.
He said as of end-August, PNB’s total investment fund stood at RM332 billion and its average domestic investment was 84.3%, of which, 74.4% was in the domestic-listed equities.
“Meanwhile, KWAP’s total investment fund was RM167 billion and the average domestic investment stood at 79.3%, of which, 45.2% was in the domestic-listed equities,” he said during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Sim was responding to Jimmy Puah Wee Tse’s (PH-Tebrau) question about the amount invested by GLC and GLIC in Malaysia and abroad and whether the entire investments would be in line with the government’s aspirations to strengthen the equity market in Malaysia.
He said as of Aug this year, LTH’s investment totalling RM91 billion with 90.1% invested in the domestic market, of which, 18.3% was in the domestic-listed equities while LTAT invested its entire investment fund, which stood at RM10.5 billion, in the domestic market, of which, 52% was in the domestic-listed equities.
Sim said that based on the strategic asset allocation, between 15.8% and 62.7% of GLIC’s investment funds were in the domestic-listed equities on Bursa Malaysia on average.
Additionally, he said the country’s sovereign wealth fund manager Khazanah Nasional Bhd made RM9.2 billion domestic investments for the period from 2019 to 2022 and this was equivalent to 32.5 of its total investment worth RM28.3 billion.
“In this regard, Khazanah’s role was focused on creating added value through active stewardship in its investment companies to support and strengthen these companies’ market value.
“Besides that, Khazanah’s focus was also on strategic and development assets such as aviation and tourism sectors that were facing challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
As of Dec 31, 2022, Khazanah’s total investment portfolio with realisable asset value amounted to RM122.5 billion, including RM81.2 billion or 66.3% in domestic holdings. – Bernama
