Questioned by business news channel CNBC on the sovereign wealth fund’s lacklustre performance, Amirul said: “As far as the returns overall, it’s still profitable. It’s still very respectable”.

In March, Khazanah reported a 5% decline in its net asset value to RM81 billion in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Despite this, the fund still managed a net profit of RM1.6 billion in 2022, more than double its net profit from the previous year.

Amirul said that while critics might question Khazanah’s few underperforming investments, the fund’s overall performance has remained strong.

Khazanah’s mandate, he said, is not only to generate returns but also to pursue developmental objectives, which may pose a higher risk.

“When you look at some of the (investments) that we have, which are based on growth and development, our performance is still (quite) profitable,” he said.

Going forward, Amirul said the fund will be looking for ways to improve its resilience in the market.

“Looking at the volatility in the market, we are still in the process of rebalancing our portfolio. There is actually a lot of potential in deploying assets (in the current environment),” he said.

He added that this may open opportunities in the private equity space as well.

As of end-2022, Khazanah reported 55.9% of its portfolio was invested in public markets in Malaysia, and 13.4% invested in public markets overseas.

Nearly a quarter of its portfolio was invested in private markets, while more than half outside of Malaysia, with 8% invested in real assets.