KUALA LUMPUR: The Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) has received more than 40 proposals from global general partners (GP) for the newly-announced RM6 billion Dana Pemacu.
This will be executed through separately managed account funds via partnerships between local talents and top international investment managers, said KWAP chief executive officer Datuk Nik Amlizan Mohamed at the Global Forum on Islamic Economics and Finance yesterday.
The fund was in the initial stages of assessing the proposals and would have 12 shortlisted global GPs, he said, adding that they would then assess the Malaysian GPs they would work with.
KWAP's decision to initiate the platform followed its aspiration to be more involved in the private market, she added.
Dana Pemacu will focus on key economic sectors, including food security, education, silver economy and healthcare, energy transition, digital economy, financial inclusion and other impact-related critical themes under the Madani Economy framework.
KWAP will invest RM3 billion in syariah-compliant investments, making up 50 per cent of the total Dana Pemacu capital commitment of RM6 billion.
Nik Amlizan said the objective of Dana Pemacu was to accelerate deployment of capital efficiently via local co-GPs into Malaysia-focused companies, thereby spurring local talent developments and boosting Malaysia's economic growth.
"We opted for the co-GP model because local GPs are still at the nascent stage with no significant track record. With this model, they would be able to build their track," she said.
Nik Amlizan said investments in the local market would be significant compared to the overseas market.
The fund will have three different asset classes, namely private equity, infrastructure and real estate. Each vertical will have four funds.
KWAP chief investment officer Hazman Hilmi Sallahuddin said on the local end, more than 60 players were nominated to be part of the programme.
"We believe that the GPs we have are the top talents in Malaysia."
He added that the global GPs were big players but refused to divulge further details.
The criteria outlined for global GPs include their exposure and experience in Malaysia, as well as being top 25 players with a significant track record.
He added that it was also crucial for these global GPs to bring forward proposals that were friendly to their local partners.
As for the local partners, they need to have about 15 years of experience and have been involved in private equity, infrastructure or real estate.
Nik Amlizan believes that Dana Pemacu is instrumental for Malaysia's growth and progress.
"Our plan is to deploy this investment through the creation of partnership models between local talents and international fund managers, which will serve to catalyse the private market investment ecosystem in Malaysia.
"Furthermore, this initiative will bring global best practices and expertise to the local market as well as drive knowledge-transfer and industry networking to enhance local talents."
"Through this newly launched capital investment, we aspire to support more local companies to scale domestically and internationally through both conventional and syariah-compliant channels, ultimately strengthening financial markets and enhancing local talent development in Malaysia," she added.