PNB sees bigger foreign investments by 2010

STATE-owned fund manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) aims to see overseas investment representing 10 per cent of its investment portfolio by 2010, an effort to further enhance its returns.

Chief executive officer Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said this is part of plans to restructure its current investment portfolio, which will also see them focusing on other potential sectors such as property and hospitality.

Despite interest to expand abroad, he said the group will continue to be focused on its local investments.

"We would first focus on our base here. We will try to go to countries where we can get good returns," he told reporters after the launch of the PNB International Lectures by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Hamad Kama Piah said PNB also plans to introduce new investment products, particularly those offering higher returns but at higher risk level, into the market.

In line with this, he said PNB plans to organise more programmes to help educate the public on investment strategies.

"Our investors are always looking for low-risk investments that offer very high returns. In reality, low-risk investment brings low return. That is why we are organising various programmes such as the Minggu Amanah Saham, to educate the public so that they would have a better understanding on the concept of 'risk and return' as well as the need to plan their wealth," he added.

PNB manages some RM120 billion worth of funds or 12.6 per cent of Bursa Malaysia's market value.

Since 1981, it has distributed returns of RM60 billion and set aside RM5 billion each year in investment returns. It has a 58.4 per cent share of the total net asset value in the country's unit trust industry.

By New Straits Times (by Anna Maria Samsudin)