By Nick Hedley
Malaysia’s Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) aims
to grow the size of its fund by more than a quarter by 2025, Finance Minister Zafrul
Abdul Aziz said in a statement.
While announcing a new three-year strategy for the fund,
Zafrul said KWAP intended to have RM200 billion ($45 billion) in assets by
2025, from $35.67 billion at the end of 2021.
“At a time when markets are experiencing unprecedented
volatility, I expect KWAP to strengthen its ability to facilitate more
catalytic investments that directly benefit the Malaysian economy, continue to
grow its fund size and equally important, elevate service levels for
pensioners,” he said.
KWAP said in the same statement it planned to invest in
digital services, automation and data analytics to enhance its service levels, and
will focus on developing the capabilities of its workforce.
The overarching goal is to achieve “stronger and sustainable
returns.”
For the 2021 fiscal year, KWAP’s net income reached a record
$2.24 billion.
In January, the fund appointed Hazman Hilmi Sallahuddin
as its new chief investment officer.
Hazman was previously managing director of Damansara Assets,
a wholly owned real-estate subsidiary of Johor Corporation, and was CEO of AMAL
by Malaysia Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Malaysian Aviation
Group.
Prior to that, Hazman was with Khazanah Nasional Berhad,
where he served in various roles across the organization over 12 years,
including as senior vice president of Khazanah Europe Investment.