Khazanah Nasional Berhad

Khazanah Nasional Berhad is the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia, entrusted with growing the nation's long-term wealth via distinct commercial and strategic objectives. Khazanah's commercial objective is to grow financial assets and diversify revenue sources for the nation, while its strategic objective is to hold strategic assets that bring long-term economic benefits. Khazanah is guided by its investment philosophy which emphasises attaining appropriate risk-adjusted financial returns, generating sustainable returns, and integrating ethical and responsible investing considerations.

Khazanah is a member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, which maintains and promotes the Santiago Principles on best practices in managing sovereign wealth funds. It is also a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), signatory of the Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors and a member of the Institutional Investor Council Malaysia (IIC), member of FCLTGlobal (Focusing Capital on the Long Term), and signatory of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) Corporate Integrity Pledge.

Khazanah was incorporated under the Companies Act 2016 in Malaysia on 3 September 1993 as a public limited company and commenced operations a year later. Khazanah is owned by the Malaysian government and administered by the Minister of Finance Incorporated, except for one share held by the Federal Land Commissioner. It is governed by a board of directors comprising representatives from the Government and the corporate sector with diverse professional backgrounds and expertise.

In December 2021 the fund had US$ 30.5 billion in assets under management.

Financial highlights

In 2020, Khazanah achieved a profit from operations of RM2.9 billion compared to RM7.4 billion in 2019. Dividend income from investee companies rose to RM5.2 billion from RM3.8 billion but was offset by lower divestment gains of RM2.7 billion compared to RM9.9 billion in 2019. Khazanah declared a dividend of RM2.0 billion for 2020.

Khazanah’s financial position remained strong with debt reduced by 6% to RM43.1 billion from RM45.8 billion in 2019, while Realizable Asset Value (RAV) cover stood at 2.9 times.

Meanwhile, operating expenses rose 1.0% to RM490 million from RM484 million in 2019. 2020 operating expenses include a RM20 million contribution to support the Government's COVID-19 relief efforts.

The Commercial Fund’s Realizable Asset Value (RAV) stood at RM95.3 billion, whilst the Strategic Fund’s RAV was at RM27.9 billion, as at 31 December 2020.

History

Incorporation

Khazanah was incorporated under the Companies Act 2016 on 3 September 1993 as a public limited company and commenced operations a year later. Except for one share owned by the Federal Land Commissioner, all the share capital of Khazanah is owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated, a body incorporated pursuant to the Minister of Finance (Incorporation) Act 1957.

A refreshed mandate

In 2018, the Government of Malaysia initiated a corporate restructuring and reorganisation of Khazanah, which involved leadership changes, a refresh of its mandate and objectives, and a review and revaluation of its investments.

Khazanah's mandate is to grow Malaysia's long-term wealth. Grow in this context is to sustainably increase the value of investments while safeguarding financial capital injected into the fund. Long-term refers to a period spanning generations and focuses on ensuring future generations’ ability to meet their needs. Wealth refers to the value of Khazanah's financial assets and economic development outcomes for the nation. To achieve the mandate, Khazanah pursues the following investment objectives:

* Commercial objective - Achieve optimal risk-adjusted returns, to grow financial assets and diversify sources of revenue for the nation.
* Strategic objective - Undertake strategic investments with long-term economic benefits for Malaysia or Malaysians, including holding strategic national assets

Leadership and governance

;Board of directors

Khazanah is governed by its board of directors, which is led by Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Prime Minister of Malaysia, as chairman of the board. The board members comprise representatives from the Government as well as the corporate sector with diverse professional backgrounds and expertise. The managing director reports to the board.

The board meets regularly and is ultimately accountable and responsible for Khazanah's overall governance and performance. A ''Board Charter'' sets out the roles and responsibilities of the board in overseeing the management of Khazanah.

Khazanah is guided by a framework that establishes a responsibility, authority and governance structure. Its ''Governance and Risk Management Framework'' comprises a ''Risk Management Policy'', ''Schedule of Matters for the Board'', ''Limits of Authority'' for the management, ''Code of Conduct'' for employees, and operational ''Policies and Procedures''.

;
;Board members

Chairman:

* Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Prime Minister of Malaysia

Directors:

* Dato' Sri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia
*Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of Finance of Malaysia
* Mr. Goh Ching Yin, Chairman of Executive Committee (EXCO), Member of Audit & Risk Committee (ARC) and Member of Nomination & Remuneration Committee (NRC)
*Tan Sri Mohammed Azlan Hashim, Chairman of Nomination & Remuneration Committee (NRC) and Member of Executive Committee (EXCO)
*Dato’ Zainal Abidin Putih, Chairman of Audit & Risk Committee (ARC)
*Mr. Lau Seng Yee, Member of Executive Committee (EXCO) and Member of Nomination & Remuneration Committee (NRC)
*Datuk Azian Mohd Aziz, Member of Audit & Risk Committee (ARC)
*Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional and Member of Executive Committee (EXCO)
;
;Management team

* Managing Director – Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir
* Chief Investment Officer – Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz
* Executive Director, Head, Corporate & Support Services, Company Secretary and Head, Legal – Dato' Mohamed Nasri Sallehuddin
* Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer – Faridah Bakar Ali
*Executive Director and Head, Strategic Human Capital Management – Latifah Daud
*Executive Director and Head, Governance, Risk & Compliance – Suhana Dewi Selamat
*Executive Director and Head, Public Markets – Hisham Hamdan
*Executive Director and Head, Private Markets and Head, Financial Institutions Group (FIG) – Serena Tan Mei Shwen
* Executive Director and Head, Energy, Iskandar, Leisure & Tourism – Datuk Amran Hafiz Affifudin
*Executive Director and Head, Dana Impak and Head, Healthcare – Bryan Lim
*Executive Director and Head, Telecommunications, Media & Technology - Geoff Lee Seng Chow
*Head, Infrastructure & Airlines - Wong Shu Hsien
* Head, Real Assets - Selvendran Katheerayson
*Head, Chief Investment Officer's Office - Dr. Farid Mohamed Sani
*Head of Consumer and Lead, Southeast Asia PE - Effizal Faiz Zulkifly
*Director, Telecommunications & Media - Ong King How
*Head, Strategy - Nik Sharifidin Nik Mohamed Din
*Head, Research - Nicholas Khaw

Investments

Khazanah pursues its overall mandate through a two-fund investment structure. The two funds, the Commercial Fund and the Strategic Fund, are established with distinct objectives, policies and strategies, and are managed separately via separate investment management divisions.

Commercial Fund

The Commercial Fund is an inter-generational fund that seeks to generate risk-adjusted returns on a long-term basis, to grow financial assets and diversify sources of revenue for the nation. The Fund targets to generate a return of at least the Malaysian Consumer Price Index plus 3% on a 5-year rolling basis with a moderate risk tolerance level as follows:

* underperformance no more than 10% chance of a 30% annual loss
* funding no more than 10% chance of not achieving 1.5% portfolio yield.

The return target and risk tolerance are set by the Board and may be reviewed from time to time. The annual returns of the Fund are reinvested into the Fund and distributed to the Government based on an identified payout ratio. Any additional inflow of capital will be subject to approval of the Board. The Fund has the flexibility to invest across multi-asset classes in accordance to the strategic asset allocation and different geographies with a preference for active and direct investment strategies.

Strategic Fund

The Strategic Fund is a developmental fund that seeks to undertake strategic investments, with long-term economic benefits, including holding strategic national assets. It targets to generate a return of at least the yield of the 10-year Malaysian Government Securities on a 5-year rolling basis, and to achieve its strategic objectives. Its return target is set by the Board and may be reviewed from time to time.

The Fund aims to be self-sustaining, with the primary source of funding for the Fund's activities to be generated from any internal surplus; any additional capital required above this available amount will be subject to the approval of the Board. The Fund invests and manages strategic assets as defined and classified below:

* Strategic assets - Domestic assets of national importance, such as critical infrastructure. > Held on behalf of the Government of Malaysia for the long-term.
* Developmental assets - Long-term developmental investments with potential to deliver high economic impact. > These assets will be developed to achieve commercial viability at which point value realisation options may be considered.
* New strategic assets - Either national infrastructure related or developmental in nature with clearly defined economic benefit targets and commercial viability plan identified.

The Fund pursues opportunities with the potential to become commercially viable or earn sufficient returns to operate without recourse to its shareholders. Larger-value transactions will generally be undertaken by the Fund, with the flexibility to invest across capital structures and a preference for co-investment and partnerships in entering all new developmental investments. Value realisation options can be considered when possible, on a commercial arm's-length basis. The investment themes of the Fund are reviewed on a regular basis based on global economic megatrends and national needs, and investment assets within the portfolio are similarly reviewed and assessed for relevance to strategic targets.

References

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1993 establishments in Malaysia

Government-owned companies of Malaysia
Sovereign wealth funds
Ministry of Finance (Malaysia)
Privately held companies of Malaysia