EPF investment income up Saturday, 29 August 2015

by **Cals** Mon 31 Aug 2015, 21:13

EPF investment income up

Saturday, 29 August 2015

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Higher income: EPF headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia’s largest pension fund manager says that on a cumulative basis, its investment income totalled RM22.04bil for the first six months of 2015.

It grew 9.73% to RM11.41bil for second quarter ended June 30.
PETALING JAYA: Lifted by higher returns from across its portfolio of assets, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) saw its investment income grow 9.73% to RM11.41bil for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015, from RM10.4bil in the corresponding period last year.
Malaysia’s largest pension fund manager said in a statement that on a cumulative basis, its investment income totalled RM22.04bil for the first six months of 2015. This represented an increase of 14.6% from RM19.23bil a year ago.
Despite the encouraging performance year to date, the EPF conceded that it would be tough to maintain the strong growth momentum for the rest of the year.
“While we were able to maintain the previous quarter’s momentum, we are currently seeing greater volatility in the financial markets,” its chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said.
He said US’ anticipated interest rate hike, a slowdown in China and the emerging markets were “prevailing concerns”.
Shahril said the strong performance in the first half of 2015 was supported mainly by a well-diversified portfolio and the strengthening of the US dollar, which had enhanced returns from its international investments.
“The current market conditions allow the fund to rebalance its portfolio for continuous return and risk diversification over the long run.
“With our long-term investment horizon, the current situation presents good opportunities for us to capitalise on undervalued and fundamentally strong domestic and global assets,” he explained.
As at the second quarter of the year, the EPF’s total investment assets stood at RM667.21bil, which represented an increase of RM30.68bil for the first six months of 2015. Equities, which made up 43% of the EPF’s total investment assets, continued to be the top investment income contributor during the second quarter.
During the period under review, income from equities investment rose 6.9% to RM6.97bil from RM6.52bil in the previous corresponding quarter. The segment accounted for 61.05% of its total income.
Meanwhile, fixed-income investment, which represented 51% of its investment asset size, continued to provide steady income stream.
Malaysian Government Securities, for instance, generated RM1.79bil during the second quarter of 2015, up 3.98% from RM1.72bil a year ago, while the loans and bonds segment recorded an investment income of RM2.02bil, compared with RM1.87bil previously, and money market instruments contributed RM190.89mil, up from RM107.32mil.
Income from the real estate and infrastructure segment, which represented 3% its total investment assets as at June 2015, almost tripled to RM444.46mil during the quarter under review, compared with RM184.12mil a year ago.