HOW PRUDENT IS THE EPF IN ITS INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES? (The first of a series of articles on the EPF by Bernama).

(From Bernama The Malaysian National News Agency)

Byline: 1992, the EPF had to seek a waiver from the authorities as it could

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- The Employees Provident Fund or EPF is a social security scheme providing retirement benefits to the Malaysian workforce which makes up its membership.

Its main functions are to receive and recover contributions from its members, to invest and re-invest its monies to obtain reasonable returns for its members, and to meet all payments required under the EPF Act to members or their beneficiaries upon their meeting the conditions for withdrawal.

From its inception in 1951, the EPF has accumulated assets in excess of RM200 billion, a sizeable fund by any standards. It is the equivalent of more than half of nominal Gross Domestic Product and market capitalisation respectively.

Hence, the prudent management of these assets is a huge responsibility and the EPF has to be mindful of the returns it pays to its members, now over 10 million Malaysians.

How the EPF keeps growing is …