KWAP: US$40m invested in 2 more firms after Uber

KUALA LUMPUR: The Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) has invested another US$40 million (RM169.38 million) in the technology space after its maiden investment in Uber Technologies Inc two years ago.

KWAP chief executive officer Datuk Wan Kamaruzzaman Wan Ahmad said the move was part of its familiarisation into the industry, backed with a bigger risk appetite in the sector.

“To date, we have put in about US$70 million with US30 million in Uber, US$20 million in one fund called Deck Ventures and another US$20 million in Vicus Capital,” he said on the sidelines of the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2017, here, yesterday.

“Those are the three investments in the tech space so far, but we would like to do more and get more involved in this space.

“We have learned a lot along the way, especially with our investment in Uber, but we think we can step it up and make more productive investments.”

Wan Kamaruzzaman said its investments in the technology space were well below its asset allocation.

“We try to limit it to not more than one per cent of the asset allocation, but for now it is just about US$70 million with our funds standing at more than RM100 billion.”

KWAP, Malaysia’s second biggest pension fund with RM123 billion of assets under management, was diversifying into new sectors after returns across its investments had slowed. Zarina Zakariah