SHAH ALAM (Feb 28): The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) would have no difficulty in transacting in Malaysian real estate, its chief executive officer Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn said, in the face of a new requirement for government-linked companies and investment companies (GLCs and GLICs) to only dispose of properties valued at RM20 million and above to buyers with at least 50% Bumiputera ownership.
“I don't think it's a big worry for us,” Ahmad Zulqarnain responded to questions after the EPF’s 2025 results briefing.
“I think there are many ways of contracting real estate, including injecting into REITs (real estate investment trusts), which are very easy for us to do.
“A lot of the real estate we hold are for the long term, [where] you generate the income which translates into the dividend,” he added.
Ahmad Zulqarnain was responding to questions on whether the new government policy would reduce the buyer pool and affect asset valuations.
The Edge Malaysia weekly in its latest edition reported that the Economic Planning Unit has enforced the new rule beginning Nov 18 last year. Prior to the change in Bumiputera buyer ownership of 50%, the threshold was set at 30%.
As at end-2025, some RM870 billion of the EPF’s investment assets were located domestically. Of that, about 1% (RM8.7 billion) was in real estate, data from the results briefing showed. This compares with about RM2.46 billion overseas.
The fund’s private-owned real estate arms include the Kwasa Damansara development here bordering Shah Alam, Setia Eco Park in which it owns a 34% stake, as well as 20% of Iskandar Investment Bhd which oversees the Iskandar Puteri development in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor.
The EPF also fully owns Alpha REIT that owns Sri KDU Schools and Eaton International School, as well as a 19.47% stake in Axis REIT (KL:AXREIT), and 15.81% of Sunway REIT (KL:SUNREIT).
In total, its real estate portfolio contributed to about RM120 million in total investment income in 2025, down from about RM180 million in 2024.