Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund Names Encik Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn CEO

Ahmad Zulqarnain succeeds Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, who left the $211.5 billion fund to become Malaysia’s second finance minister.




The board of Malaysia’s 1 trillion Malaysian ringgit ($211.5 billion) Employees Provident Fund has hired Encik Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn as its new CEO, effective February 19. will succeed Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, who was named Malaysia’s second finance minister in December after leading the fund since March 2021.

Ahmad Zulqarnain was most recently president and group chief executive of Malaysian investment management firm Permodalan Nasional Berhad, from which his resignation will be effective on February 16. Prior to joining PNB in 2020, he was with the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad for more than six years, first as an executive director and then as deputy managing director. Before that, he was CEO of Danajamin Nasional Berhad for five years.

“We would like to welcome and congratulate Encik Ahmad Zulqarnain on his appointment as the new EPF CEO,” EPF Chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir said in a release. “With his extensive corporate experience, we are looking forward to his dynamic and focused leadership to drive the EPF to greater heights.”

According to the EPF, Hamzah played a “pivotal role in the growth and success of the EPF,” with his key achievements included directing the fund through various economic cycles and challenges and consistently achieving positive growth in investment income.

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“The EPF Board extends their heartfelt gratitude to Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah for his exemplary service to the EPF and significant contributions and achievements, which have positioned the EPF for continued success,” Zahir said.

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New Chairman Named for Australia’s Future Fund

Greg Combet will move from Australia’s Net Zero Economy Agency and take on leadership of the sovereign fund later this year.



Greg Combet, a former Australian Labor Party government minister and current chair of the Australian government’s Net Zero Economy Agency, is set to replace Peter Costello as chair of the Future Fund, the country’s largest sovereign wealth fund, later this year.

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on January 29 the appointment of Combet, who in July 2023 relinquished his role as chair of IFM Investors to inaugurate the Net Zero Economy Agency. Chalmers said Combet would “refresh and renew” the institution, which had A$206.1 billion ($135.67 billion) in assets as of June 30, 2023.

“Greg Combet is a person of extraordinary breadth and depth and character and experience,” Chalmers said. “He is the perfect appointment to take the Future Fund into the future.”

Costello, a former Australia treasurer, set up the Future Fund in 2006, served on its board from 2009 to 2014 and has served consecutive five-year terms as chair since February 2014.

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The NZEA, which launched in July 2023, confirmed to CIO sister publication FS Sustainability that Combet will complete his 12-month appointment as its chair prior to taking up his role with the Future Fund.

Combet has been prominent in the superannuation industry. In 2018, he became chair of Industry Super Australia. He has also served as a trustee of AustralianSuper and of Superannuation Trust of Australia.

Former Macquarie Group chief executive Mary Reemst has been designated as the interim chair of the Future Fund, assuming the position on February 4. Reemst was appointed to the Future Fund Board of Guardians for a five-year term in October 2023.

The government also appointed Nicola Wakefield Evans and Rosemary Vilgan as part-time members of the Future Fund board, serving five-year terms in place of the outgoing John Fraser and John Poynton.

Costello received commendation from Chalmers for his foundational role in establishing the Future Fund and for his significant contributions during his leadership tenure. In October 2023, Costello notified the government of his intention to step down as chair of the Future Fund at the end of his term.

This article initially appeared in our sister publication, Financial Standard , which, like CIO, is owned by ISS STOXX.

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