KUALA LUMPUR: The Opposition should stop second-guessing investment decisions made by professional managers of the nation’s funds.
Umno Supreme Council member, Datuk Seri Shabery Cheek said previous successes abroad by both the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Khazanah Holdings has benefitted ordinary Malaysians.
“Is it wrong for these funds to seek out the best investments, whether locally or overseas, that will maximise returns for the savings of the ordinary Malaysians?” asked Shabery in a statement.
His question was directed to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and opposition leaders who had been critical over the investment moves announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the latter's recent working visit to the United States.
Shabery also asked Dr Mahathir, who is Pakatan Harapan chairman, to remind opposition leaders that he himself had stated in 2005 that EPF should invest more of its funds overseas in order to secure better dividends for its members.
“I was surprised to learn how Tun (Mahathir) has changed his mind and position in criticising Khazanah and the EPF's investments in the US. (This) shows he is playing hate politics while disregarding the welfare and interests of the people.
“At that time, he (Dr Mahathir) said that EPF had a huge fund size of RM240 billion and that investing it all locally will mean low returns. He added that EPF must invest overseas in order to increase its income.
“Today, as at the end of June 2017, EPF's fund size has reached RM759.78 billion. (This is) more than three-fold of what it was when Tun Mahathir made that statement.”
Shabery went on to clarify that EPF’s overseas investments, which was 29 per cent of its total investment asset, had contributed about 32.5 per cent to EPF’s total investment income in this year’s second quarter.
Shabery also said that overseas investment is not something new for both EPF and Khazanah Holdings, adding that Khazanah opened its office in the Silicon Valley in 2013.
He said in 2014, Khazanah made more than one billion USD in the listing of Alibaba, which was a five-fold return on their investment.
“Much of the funds for their current US$400 million investments in technology firms in the US have come from the Alibaba profits,” he added.
EPF, he noted, had also recorded big successes in infrastructure project investments in the past.
“In 2013, EPF together with other government-linked companies Sime Darby and SP Setia, whose major shareholder is Permodalan Nasional Berhad, took up the multi-billion pound project to develop the landmark Battersea project in London.
“The Battersea project has turned out to be an unqualified success that will mean billions of pounds in profit for our companies,” he said.
Najib's announcement on upcoming investments in the US during his visit with US President Donald Trump had drawn criticism from various opposition leaders.
Among them were Dr Mahathir himself, who denounced the idea as bad investments as the US has enough money, and that Malaysia had not benefitted from the meeting between Najib and Trump.