EPF to increase private equity allocation to above 3 pct

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund ( EPF) has targeted to increase its private equity ( PE) allocation to above three per cent over the next 10 years from two per cent currently.

Chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman said the domestic PE market is still in its infancy and local institutional investors, including the EPF, were increasingly playing an active role in PE investing due to its ability to deliver superior long-term returns.

“Private equity also has the potential to outperform other asset classes during certain economic cycle,” he said in his speech after officiating the EPF Global PE Summit 2018 yesterday.

He further explained that PE remained at the forefront of investors’ mind as they looked to tap into the massive growth potential in Asia.

“We hope that the summit will provide an ideal platform to further develop and promote the private equity ecosystem in the Southeast Asian region,” he added.

Given the increasing role of technology in daily lives and investment opportunities, Samsudin said that the EPF had added a Technology mandate within its PE programme.

EPF has also targeted to declare at least two per cent real dividend on a rolling three-year basis, and this new mandate can offer additional risk-adjusted returns and meet its inflation-hedging targets.

More than 400 participants representing regional and global leaders of PE, limited partners, investors, advisers and consultants attended the summit.