KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 20 — The performance of the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) needs to be assessed fairly given that the retirement fund managed to record a net profit of RM12.9 billion, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said this would not have been possible without the expertise, commitment and dedication of KWAP’s investment panel, management and leadership.
Regarding the investment in eFishery, the Prime Minister said that not only KWAP, but also leading Singaporean investment companies such as Temasek, Japanese bank SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Aqua-Spark, Abu Dhabi-based 42XFund and NorthStar from Indonesia, have also invested in the aquaculture technology startup.
“So I ask my esteemed colleagues to look at the whole picture because the profits and growth, which is called annual compound growth, exceed 8.5 percent,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara today.
The Prime Minister was answering a question from Senator Mohd Hasbie Muda regarding strategies to ensure that the national retirement funds, namely the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and KWAP, are able to provide the best dividends despite facing global geopolitical uncertainties.
Meanwhile, he also explained that KWAP does not only invest in foreign companies, but also has large investments in local start-ups.
Anwar said that apart from existing investments, KWAP was also involved in the GEAR-uP initiative led by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) together with KWAN, involving funds totaling RM30 billion.
Responding to a supplementary question from Mohd Hasbie regarding KWAP’s projection to fully fund pension liabilities through its investment returns without relying on government funds, Anwar said that so far the profits recorded, despite reaching tens of billions of ringgit, were still not able to cover pension costs in the long term.
“That’s why we also have to face controversy regarding the demands of some parties for funds to be released more easily,” he said.
Responding to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Abdul Hasim Suleiman regarding the membership of KWAP’s investment committee and whether the majority of it consisted of professionals, Anwar said the investment panel was made up entirely of professionals while its board was also represented by representatives of the ministry and employees.
“However, I agree with the Honourable, the loss (on investment in eFishery) should give us a warning, it is not necessarily the approval given by the world’s major investment panel, as we saw earlier from Europe, Japan, (for example) that should affect us.
“Of course he gave some consideration because for Softbank, for example investing in the United Arab Emirates or Europe, of course he gave great consideration but if we look at it, analyze the process, it is an extraordinary event,” said Anwar.
— BERNAMA
