Selangor Journal
Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) signage at Menara PNB in Kuala Lumpur, on December 23, 2020. — Picture by BERNAMA

PNB remains focus on diversification, value creation, digital transformation

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) remains focused on the portfolio diversification and value creation areas, as well as further accelerates its digital transformation plan to provide value to its unitholders.

President and group chief executive Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn said the fund management company would create value by assessing the performance of its domestic portfolio.

“We will be continuing our diversification efforts across different asset classes, both domestically and internationally, and also accelerating technology enhancements and digital offerings to unitholders,” he said at the virtual media briefing in conjunction with the release of the PNB 2020 Annual Report today.

He said to increase the value of its strategic and core companies, PNB would pursue continuous engagement as it worked towards setting short and medium-term targets by imposing disciplined capital allocation and establishing best practices for board composition, as well as reviewing their valuation plans.

“Our aspiration is clear, which is to outperform the annualised three-year return of FBM100 for all of our companies,” he said.

Ahmad Zulqarnain said PNB would also continue to judiciously increase its exposure to global markets and manage risks across a larger spectrum.

“Our diversification efforts have led to the growth of our international allocation from 3.0 per cent in 2018 to 12 per cent last year.

“This, in turn, has increased the income contribution from international public equity from only 2.2 per cent in 2018 to 25.5 per cent last year,” he said.

He said several investment themes would be of interest this year, including that of renewable energy, infrastructure, and 5G adoption.

Ahmad Zulqarnain said PNB is also keen to gain exposure in these sectors through initial public offering participations and having a structured approach to external fund managers for certain strategies.

“We would also leverage the momentum gained last year and further accelerate our digital transformation initiatives.

“These include the digitalisation of our customers’ journey through goal-based investing e-KYC, which is coming in the months ahead, enhancing our unitholders’ online experience and improving Minggu Saham Digital, as well as other digital touchpoints,” he said.

He said PNB has also established a digital innovation hub within Jewel Digital Ventures (JDV) and also undergoing various projects to enhance both its core unit trust and investment systems.

“By end of 2021, we expect to have successfully implemented all these initiatives on the respective focus areas,” he added.

— Bernama

Top Picks

Police arrests French-Israeli man with six guns in Kuala Lumpur

Litrak’s toll rebate prog for Damansara-Puchong Expressway users ends April 1