Malaysia wealth fund’s assets, profits jump amid recovery

KHAZANAH Nasional saw its net asset value (NAV) rebound by about 4 per cent in 2023, as its profits tripled from a year ago on improving market conditions. 

The Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s NAV rose to RM84.8 billion (S$24.07 billion) from RM81.3 billion in 2022, managing director Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (Mar 11). Profit from operations jumped by more than threefold to RM5.9 billion from RM1.6 billion the previous year.

“The recovery in 2023 puts the overall Khazanah portfolio back on track after a challenging five-year period,” said Amirul Feisal, referring to the 2020 pandemic, tightened financial conditions in 2022, and China’s policy uncertainty over the last two years.

Higher dividends and distributions from investor companies, and fair value gains from its trading portfolio, contributed to the jump in profit, he said. That allowed the fund to double its dividends to the government to RM1 billion in 2023. Earlier this month, Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund, the nation’s largest pension fund, also raised its dividend payouts for 2023.

Things won’t be easy for Khazanah going forward “given the ongoing global volatility”, said Amirul Feisal. “But we have a resilient portfolio and we manage the risks. The main area we want to capitalise on is Malaysia itself.” 

Khazanah will focus on connectivity, energy transition, digitalisation, and improving Malaysia’s economic competitiveness, he said. Its investment portfolio accounts for about RM126.2 billion in realisable asset value as at Dec 31.