Hasnita appointed Mara chairman

PETALING JAYA: The Prime Minister’s (PM) Office has announced the appointment of Hasnita Hashim as chairman of Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), along with six new board members for the agency.

Hasnita is presently the chair of Maybank Asset Management Group Bhd and a board member of Malayan Banking Bhd or Maybank.

She has been a director of Maybank since July 1, 2016, while she was appointed chairman of Maybank Asset Management on Jan 1, 2017 and Maybank Asset Management Malaysia shortly after.

The statement from the PM’s office said also that Hasnita is a PhD holder in nuclear physics from Oxford University and is a trained actuary.

According to Maybank’s website, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Surrey University and is also presently an Associate of the Institute of Actuaries, Staple Inn, London.

She has 26 years’ experience in financial management and was at one time the CEO of Guidance Investments Sdn Bhd, which is the investment arm of Guidance Financial Group, an investment company with assets under management of around US$1bil.

Hasnita also founded IslamiQ, the world’s first online Islamic finance portal in 1998.

She was also the CEO of Commerce MGI Sdn Bhd, Malaysia from 1994-1998.

Hasnita started her career at Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte in London as an actuary.

The board members who will be assisting her are Prof Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Datuk Wira Dr Ameer Ali Mydin, Datuk Syed Tamim Ansari Syed Mohamed, Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff and Zakri Khir.

Dzulkifli was in August appointed the sixth rector of International Islamic University Malaysia and was before that, the Islamic Science University of Malaysia’s board of governance chairman.

He was also Malaysian Science University’s vice-chancellor from 2000 to 2011.

Nungsari was in July appointed the new executive chairman of the Malaysian Aviation Commission. Nungsari is the managing director of Prokhas Sdn Bhd, which is owned by the government through the Minister of Finance Inc.

He is also a board member and principal officer of Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd, Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Bhd and Syarikat Jaminan Kredit Perumahan Bhd.

Ameer Ali is the second son of the Mydin family and is currently the MD of Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd that owns Mydin hypermarkets.

Syed Tamim Ansari is the chairman of Mayban Life Assurance Bhd, a board member of several other companies including Consolidated Plantations Bhd and a former chairman of Etiqa Insurance Bhd.

Tengku Mahaleel was the CEO of Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd and Proton Holdings Bhd before.

Zakri Khir has been involved in the insurance industry for almost 30 years and is now Allianz Malaysia Bhd’s CEO.

All the new appointments will take effect on Oct 1, the government said.