UPDATE: Is EPF’s Shahril Ridza Khazanah’s new MD?

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 2): The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) chief executive office (CEO) Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan (pictured) is tipped to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director (MD) Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, sources say.

It is understood that Shahril Ridza is among names considered for the post of Khazanah MD, following en masse resignations of the sovereign wealth fund’s board members, which included Azman.

Four other names have been bandied about as the possible successor. They are Raja Shahreen Raja Othman, who is currently the CEO of Selangor’s Menteri Besar Inc (MBI), Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) CEO Datuk Yusof Annuar Yaacob, Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) group MD Datuk Charon Mokhzani, and former Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd CEO Datuk Mohd Zafer Mohd Hashim.

Previously, deputy Khazanah MDs Hisham Hamdan and Ahmad Zulkarnain Onn were said to be front-runners for the top job.

Shahril Ridza, 48, has been the EPF CEO since April 2013, and prior to that, its deputy CEO of investment from December 2009.

According to Bloomberg data, before joining EPF, he was group MD of Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd from Sept 1, 2003 until Dec 1, 2009 and also served as its CEO. Among the places he has worked were Zain & Co, Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd and Trenergy (M) Bhd/Turnaround Managers Inc (M) Sdn Bhd.

Due to the EPF’s investments in many listed companies, Shahril Ridza serves on the board of many of them. He has a Bachelor of Law from Oxford University and a Masters in Arts from Cambridge University.

Before officially clocking out for the last time from Khazanah’s office on Tuesday after 14 years as its MD, Azman said in a WhatsApp message to his friends that he had a positive meeting with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

On July 26, the nine members of the Khazanah board, including MD Azman, offered to resign en masse to Dr Mahathir, saying the move would “facilitate a smooth and orderly transition under the new government”.

Other board members comprised Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, Tan Sri Md Nor Md Yusof, Tan Sri Mohamed Azman Yahya, Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim, Tan Sri Andrew Sheng Len Tao, Tan Sri Raja Arshad Raja Uda, Datuk Dr Nirmala Menon and Yeo Kar Peng.

Their move followed Dr Mahathir’s criticisms that the fund had deviated from its original objective of helping the bumiputeras.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) welcomed the resignation and said it will “clear the deck to allow the govenrment to restructure” Khazanah in line with policies of the new administration. The PMO stressed that it “is not on a witch-hunt”. Then on Monday, the PMO announced the appointment of Dr Mahathir as Khazanah chairman.

The PMO also named Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali; Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican, a former CEO and president of Petroliam Nasional Bhd; Dr Sukhdave Singh, a former deputy governor of Bank Negara Malaysia; and Goh Ching Yin, a former executive director of market development at the Securities Commission Malaysia, as directors of the sovereign wealth fund.

The appointment of Khazanah’s new group MD will be announced in due course, it said.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Aug 2, 2018.

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Correction

With reference to the story “Is EPF’s Shahril Ridza Khazanah’s new MD?” published on Aug 2, it has been pointed out that Datuk Hisham Hamdan is Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s executive director, investments, and not as reported. The error is regretted.