Malaysia’s Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) plans to more than double private markets exposure to 30% from 12.3% in 2023 to improve returns, according to a senior executive of the country’s second largest pension fund.
“We consciously raised our risk ceiling from a 60:40 risk allocation to an 80:20 ceiling to reflect our ability to take on more risk. By taking on additional illiquidity premium, we are better able to sustain returns,” Nazaiful Affendi Zainal Abidin, KWAP’s chief strategy and services officer, said during a panel session at the World Social Security Forum 2025 on October 3.
He did not disclose a timeline for the target 30% private markets exposure.
According to Nazaiful, KWAP’s journey to raise its risk ceiling began in 2020 and the pension fund looked at various investment portfolios and studied how peers in New Zealand and Canada invest before developing its own risk appetite framework.
“The framework allows us to manage the portfolio within a risk floor and a risk ceiling. Defining it appropriately allows us to determine how we look at our strategic asset allocation,” he said.
KWAP manages the retirement savings of civil servants, with 193.5 billion ringgit (US$45.26 billion) of assets under management as of end-2024.
