EPF's total investment funds stand at RM1.1 trillion as of August 2023

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 per cent, including 24.4 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent, of which, 74.4 per cent was in the domestic-listed equities.

"Meanwhile, KWAP’s total investment fund was RM167 billion and the average domestic investment stood at 79.3 per cent, of which, 45.2 per cent was in the domestic-listed equities,” he said during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

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 per cent invested in the domestic market, of which, 18.3 per cent 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 per cent was in the domestic-listed equities.

Sim said that based on the strategic asset allocation, between 15.8 per cent and 62.7 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent in domestic holdings.

On GLC, Sim said GLC’s investments were more focused on domestic capital expenditure for companies’ expansion, including the purchase of assets for businesses and operations.

The deputy minister said such GLCs included Khazanah’s units, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Malaysian Airport Holdings Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

He said the Ministry of Finance (MoF) would continue to support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s calls for GLIC to increase investments in the country.

"The ministry believes that based on the allocation of their respective strategic assets, GLIC would remain committed to making investments in the country, including in Bursa Malaysia where GLIC’s participation is seen to be able to strengthen the local equity market,” he said.

He said as of Sept 25, 2023, the size of the Malaysian equity market was valued at RM1.78 trillion, an increase of RM42.68 billion or about 2.5 per cent compared with RM1.74 trillion on Dec 31, 2022.

Sim said GLIC’s participation in Malaysia’s equity market represented 7.7 per cent of the total average daily traded value in focused sectors such as banking, commodity-related industries and others.

According to the MoF’s Economic Outlook 2024 report, Bursa Malaysia’s transaction performance for this year was better than last year with a 14.4 per cent increase in the number of units transacted to 559.6 billion units from 489.4 billion units last year.

The average daily transactions also grew by 15.1 per cent to 3.5 billion units from 3 billion units previously. - BERNAMA