Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) posted a 51% jump in investment income for the first three months of the year after front-loading the numbers, and warned that the strong performance is unlikely to be repeated in the next three quarters, citing geopolitical risk, rising oil prices and inflationary pressures.
The pension fund, Malaysia’s largest, earned 27.73 billion ringgit (US$6.98 billion) of investment income in January through March, up from 18.31 billion ringgit in the first quarter of 2025. More than half the income came from its investments outside Malaysia.
According to Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn, the EPF’s chief executive officer, the fund decided at the beginning of the year to realise gains early because of anticipated market turbulence.
“Our portfolio managers front-loaded income that would otherwise have been spread across the full year. Members should not extrapolate this quarter’s result, as it is unlikely to be repeated in subsequent quarters,” he says in a statement announcing the results on May 19.
“The environment ahead remains challenging. Elevated geopolitical risk, rising oil prices, and renewed inflationary pressures create real headwinds for global markets,” he says.
“We entered this period of uncertainty in a position of strength because we acted early. Our priority now is capital preservation and disciplined deployment to ensure the adequacy and sustainability of retirement savings for our 18 million members.”
The EPF earned 10.8 billion ringgit from equity investments and 6.76 billion ringgit from bonds in the first quarter. The rest of the income was from money market instruments, real estate, and infrastructure.
Total assets under management as of end-March were 1.44 trillion ringgit, with 36% invested outside Malaysia, bringing in 15.36 billion ringgit or 55% of the EPF’s total investment income.
