Sovereign Wealth Funds Manage USD 15.8 Trillion in Assets

 

The World’s Largest Sovereign Wealth Funds now manage $15.8 Trillion in assets. The latest ranking of the Top 50 Sovereign Wealth Funds highlights where some of the world’s largest pools of capital are managed. From Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management ($2.06T) and China’s SAFE IC ($2.05T) to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) ($1.21T) and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ($1.19T), these institutions continue to play a major role in shaping global investments. For founders and investment professionals, understanding these organizations is valuable—not because they invest directly in every startup, but because they influence venture capital, private equity, infrastructure, healthcare, AI, energy, and emerging technologies through their investment strategies. If you’re raising capital, researching institutional investors, or building strategic fundraising campaigns, knowing the right capital sources is just as important as having a great pitch. 

 

 

Reference

Sovereign Wealth Funds Manage $15.8 Trillion, Investor Lead Hub on LinkedIn

Ageing: Alone and Silent!

 

After retiring, Joseph’s 85-year-old father settled into a routine of morning swims and hours spent watching television. His father later died by suicide, becoming part of a group that experts say needs greater attention: older men. 

Singapore’s latest suicide statistics showed that men accounted for three in four suicides among people aged 60 and above in 2024. Of the 120 people in that age group who died by suicide, 90 were men and 30 were women. Across all age groups, men accounted for nearly two-thirds of the 441 suicide deaths recorded that year. Experts said older men may become vulnerable through a combination of retirement, declining health, shrinking social circles and a reluctance to seek help.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

For many men, work is closely tied to identity, routine and their role as family providers. Retirement can therefore mean more than losing a job, as some men may also lose their sense of purpose and value within the family. 

Declining health can add to the strain as chronic illness, pain, disability and reduced mobility may lead to a loss of independence and a diminished sense of purpose. Chronic pain, disability, frailty, sensory impairment and progressive illnesses can lead to loss of independence, social isolation and a diminished sense of purpose. 

Experts also warned that living with family does not necessarily protect an older person from loneliness. Joseph’s father lived with him after retirement but rarely socialised outside his daily routine. He declined invitations to join activities at a community centre despite Joseph’s efforts to help him meet new people. 

Experts said older men may also be less likely to speak openly about emotional distress because many grew up with expectations that discouraged vulnerability. Depression may instead appear through poor sleep, loss of appetite, low energy, forgetfulness, physical complaints or a sudden change in behaviour. Families should take seriously comments such as “I’m a burden” or “There is no point anymore”, as well as signs including social withdrawal, neglect of personal care and losing interest in familiar activities. 

Experts said programmes built around practical activities, hobbies and shared skills may help older men connect more naturally than traditional support groups. Activities such as carpentry, bicycle repair, volunteering and mentoring can provide opportunities for older men to build friendships while retaining a sense of purpose. 

Singapore’s experience may also carry broader relevance as neighbouring Malaysia faces its own rapidly ageing population. The Department of Statistics Malaysia said the proportion of Malaysians aged 65 and above rose to 8.4 per cent this year from 8.0 per cent last year. Twelve Malaysian states have reached ageing status after the proportion of residents aged 65 and above exceeded seven per cent of their populations. Perak recorded the country’s highest proportion of older persons at 10.8 per cent, followed by Sarawak and Kedah at 9.7 per cent each, while Penang and Perlis both stood at 8.8 per cent. The government has designated ageing as a key pillar under the 13th Malaysia Plan and is identifying a pilot project to address the fiscal, care and wider challenges arising from an older population. 

Meanwhile, many old folks are left in care homes (or families) with little desire to find a new purpose in life. The ones that have planned retirement may have launched a second career or are learning a new language; or mastering a musical instrument; or volunteering in church or other para organisations. They live longer and are less likely to be despondent. Watching television and sleeping will lead to dementia and a loss of quality of life and a burden to caregivers. May we learn to be useful whatever our age. 

Reference:

Ageing, alone and silent: Why men 60 and above are Singapore's most at-risk group, Malay Mail, 2 August 2026

 

Understanding Malaysia's GLICs and GLCs

 

Switch on a light. Browse the internet. Fill up your car. Catch a train. Fly overseas. Save for retirement. Chances are you've interacted with Malaysia's Government-Linked Investment Companies (GLICs) and Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) several times before lunchtime. The terms GLIC and GLC are often used interchangeably but they are not the same. A GLIC is an investment institution that manages public, member or institutional funds. Malaysia's six major Federal GLICs are Khazanah Nasional, PNB, EPF (KWSP), LTAT, Tabung Haji and KWAP. A GLC is an operating company that delivers products and services across sectors such as energy, banking, telecommunications, transportation, aviation, infrastructure and agribusiness.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Malaysia's corporate landscape is what actually qualifies as a GLC. There is no single official ownership percentage that automatically defines a company as a GLC. Some are directly owned by the Government of Malaysia while others are linked through one or more Federal GLICs with different levels of ownership, control and strategic influence. Whether through electricity, fuel, broadband, banking, public transport, airports or retirement savings, GLICs and GLCs play an important role in the daily lives of millions of Malaysians.

Beyond providing essential services, they support strategic industries, create employment, invest for long-term growth and contribute to Malaysia's economic development. As ownership structures and corporate relationships evolve over time, certain classifications may also change. For clarity and readability, the attached infographic (from an AI post) presents representative companies across key sectors within Malaysia's Federal GLIC ecosystem. It is intended as an educational overview and should not be interpreted as an exhaustive list of every government-linked company.

The key issue is accountability. There is no central agency to monitor their activities. In fact, the Government may not know the full number of GLCs in operation. And hopefully we don’t have scandals like 1 MDB in the near future.

 

Reference:

Understanding Malaysia's GLICs and GLCs on LinkedIn. This title was summarized by AI from the post.

Empowering Food Security!

 

A robust food system is critical for safeguarding national food security and public health (nutrition), improving livelihoods (farm income and price affordability), maintaining economic and social stability, and ensuring environmental sustainability. 

High reliance on imports (at least 60%) of its staple food (such as rice, wheat, dairy, and meat), the food price volatility, rising production costs, vulnerability to climate anomalies, the food supply chain disruptions and changing consumer demands and population growth place severe strain on global food systems. 

Source: https://www.wikiimpact.com

Modernising production systems, increasing self-sufficiency targets, and adopting new agritech to secure food supplies are key focus areas. Despite the government’s policy interventions through the National Agrofood Policy 2021-2030 (NAP 2.0) and the National Food Security Policy 2030 to transform the agrifood sector into a modern, high-value, tech-driven industry, the sector’s performance continues to remain suboptimal, resulting in persistent food import dependencies and vulnerabilities in national food security. 

Between 2021 and 2025, the broader agrifood sector, comprising livestock, marine fishing and aquaculture, as well as the “other agriculture” subsector (including paddy, vegetables, fruits, food crops and others), grew by a slower compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.2% per annum, accounting for 3.5% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (in 2025). Food imports had grown by a CAGR of 10.3% per annum in 2020 to 2025, to reach RM92.8bil in 2025 (an average of RM69.8bil per year in 2019 to 2024), making up 6.4% of total gross imports. The food deficit has widened progressively to incur the largest deficit of RM39.3bil in 2024 compared to a deficit of RM17.4bil in 2019 before registering a lower deficit of RM33.9bil in 2025. 

In 2024, Malaysia’s Self-Sufficiency Ratio has remained critically low for several key food items, including mutton, beef, ginger, mango, mushroom, chilli, and round cabbage. Meanwhile, apple, onion, and garlic continued to be largely imported due to cost constraints and agroecological factors. About 70% of Malaysia’s mutton supply is imported from Australia, while mango, coconut and beef are mainly imported from Thailand, Indonesia and India, respectively. 

Malaysia’s agrifood sector is constrained by both a limited availability of arable land and inefficient or unequal distribution of land among different commodities. While the country is resource-rich, the sector faces a structural imbalance where nearly 87% of agricultural land is used for commodity crops (like palm oil and rubber), leaving food crops lagging. Overall, the agrifood-related crops (excluding paddy and industrial crops such as coconut) constituted less than 5% of total planted areas. While poor soil quality and environmental sensitivities restrict agricultural developments, approximately 16% of Malaysia’s existing gazetted agricultural land is currently sitting idle. The Department of Agriculture reported that in 2019, there were 90,578 ha of abandoned land in Peninsular Malaysia, marking significant underutilisation of agricultural resources and a missed opportunity for food production. 

The establishment of Permanent Food Production Parks (TKPM) serves as a dedicated permanent food production zone. As at early December 2025, a total of 76 TKPM were established, with a total area of 10,568 ha. 

The government-linked companies (GLCs) with underutilised land assets should be encouraged to play a more active role in supporting the national food security objective by leasing suitable land to the agrifood growers and industry players. These public-private partnerships can help unlock idle or underutilised land for productive use. This whole idea of food security is not new. There have been several initiatives to improve food security but constraints of resources and political will usually hamper its implementation. 

Reference:

Empowering food security for tomorrow, Lee Heng Guie, The Star, 30 July 2026

 

 

Free Drama on Netflix?

 

(This article is an adaptation from a LinkedIn post by Sukhdev Singh, former Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia) 

Malaysians don't need Netflix because our politicians are such accomplished actors. They provide us with a constant stream of real-life drama. Tracking latest plots is a full-time job.  Take, for instance, the medical phenomenon that seems to afflict our political elite. It’s called "Subpoena-Induced Cardiac Arrest Syndrome” (“SICA”). SICA remains perfectly dormant while the patient is allegedly siphoning off public funds and enjoying a luxury lifestyle. It flares up just hours before a judge is due to hear criminal charges. Medical researchers remain fascinated. 

The syndrome has never been known to strike during election campaigns, overseas holidays or lavish dinners. However, sight of a courtroom can apparently trigger a full-scale physiological collapse. Fortunately, recovery is often just as miraculous once proceedings have been adjourned. It is truly a testament to the resilience of our elite that they can endure years of alleged money laundering and asset-declaration scandals without much headache. But the mention of a court date is enough to send them straight to the ICU of a private hospital or IJN.

For many of us, a medical certificate is merely a request for consideration. But for the political elite, it functions more like a "Get Out of Jail Free" card printed on premium hospital letterhead. The script has become so predictable that whenever a prominent politician is due in court, social media no longer speculates about the verdict. Instead, people wonder which private hospital the accused will check into. Humour has become our national coping mechanism. The alternative is despair. 

We are told that justice is blind. In Malaysia, however, it seems to possess remarkably good eyesight. It somehow never mistakes a Tan Sri or Datuk Seri for an ordinary taxpayer. Perhaps it is time to relocate courtrooms into private hospital VIP wards. It would save everyone the ambulance ride, the adjournment applications, and the elaborate choreography. We could become the first country where the Intensive Care Unit and the High Court share the same corridor.

 

 

Reference:

Malaysian Politicians Provide Free Drama on Netflix, Sukudhew (Sukhdave) Singh,

This title was summarized by AI from the post.

Pembinaan PFI: Financial “Engineering” or Financial Disaster?

 

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is currently investigating Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd (“PFI”). The MACC investigation raises the spectre of another possible scandal blowing up in the aftermath of Barisan Nasional’s fall from power. At RM50.2 billion, PFI’s borrowings are on the same scale as 1MDB’s debt. It amounts to a quarter of the federal government’s committed government guarantees, which came to RM199.1 billion as announced on May 24. And further investigation may shed more light on what a strange and convoluted scheme is already to dip into local pension funds. 

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) confirmed it lent RM21.16 billion to PFI and that all repayments are currently in order. While EPF’s lending to PFI is not a secret, its statement was understood to be a response to a renewed wave of viral WhatsApp messages alleging impropriety in its involvement with PFI. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

The latest available data shows that PFI has an unsatisfied RM19.48 billion charge on its assets in favour of EPF, created on Aug 22, 2014. Another known lender to PFI is Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), although the latest quantum was unclear at the time of writing. PFI is wholly owned by the Minister of Finance (MOF) Inc, the finance ministry’s corporate vehicle. 

It was essentially set up to borrow money on behalf of the federal government— that is, without adding to the government’s official debt figures. This is done by disguising loan repayments for the debt as “rental payments” from the Treasury to PFI, which was done via a leaseback arrangement involving government land. This way, the repayments are classified as operating expenditure in the government’s accounts, rather than debt servicing. 

On Aug 22, 2007, PFI inked a term loan facility from EPF for RM20 billion. The facility was for a 60-month period, and the interest rate was the prevailing rate of Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) plus 0.5% per annum, calculated on a six-monthly basis. A day earlier, PFI and the Federal Lands Commissioner (FLC) — which legally owns land on behalf of the federal government — had signed an agreement whereby PFI would lease 186 parcels of government land for a lump sum of RM20 billion. 

To create cash flow so it can repay the EPF term loan, PFI then proceeded to sublease the 186 land parcels back to the federal government for a total of RM29.18 billion, spread over 30 twice-yearly payments between 2013 and 2027. 

The rationale for the PFI arrangement is that it enables the government to raise additional money to fund its development programme. But this is done at the cost of kicking the repayments — with interest — down the road, with the debt pile now snowballing to RM50.2 billion. The scheme’s origins trace back to the time of then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who had set out to execute infrastructure projects with the private finance initiative (PFI) model under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP). Some RM20 billion was earmarked for PFI projects in 9MP. A private finance initiative (PFI) is basically a concessional procurement method whereby the government outsources the construction of public infrastructure to private contractors. In exchange for a concession to operate and maintain the infrastructure, the PFI concept means the private contractor would have to raise its own funding to complete the project. 

When will these schemes stop? Never, if you have politicians who have the same stripes as Najib. They are still there and surprisingly voters still vote them in! If you want a country to progress and have accountability in the system, then you need to come clean on many others like PFI. It beats me why PMX has not gone after those responsible and strengthen his position for another term? 

Reference:

Cover Story: A ‘secret’ government debt that has ballooned to RM50 billion, Khairie Hisyam Aliman / theedgemarkets.com, 26 Jul 2018

When Poverty Meets Pregnancy…!

 

At around 20 to 30 years, many young adults are just beginning to find their footing in life. Some are fresh graduates embarking on their first careers. Others are saving for a home, pursuing higher education or planning for marriage.  

But a recent viral video on X paints a different reality. In the clip, a young woman is seen sitting along a public walkway with a baby in her arms, selling small items to earn a living. When approached by a concerned passer-by, she is asked about her age. Her answer is just 23. What comes next is even more heartbreaking. She reveals that she already has three children. At an age when many are still trying to establish their own lives, she is already struggling to provide for three young children. Netizens who watched the video were equally touched by it.

 

Source: Wiki Impact

At just 23, this young mother has become the face of a struggle shared by many whose stories never make it onto social media. Her plight should not merely leave viewers feeling sorry for her. Instead, it should remind others that compassion is most meaningful when it is matched by understanding. 

Note also that the measure of a caring society lies not in how loudly it reacts to viral videos, but in how quietly it supports those who are struggling long after the cameras are gone. 

There are many others who suffer from mental issues, homelessness, drug dependence, insufficient income or wealth. We may not be able to solve all their problems. But surely Madani can devise a scheme for NGOs, voluntary organisations, churches and others to help directly in the areas they operate? It requires leadership and coordination. Otherwise, we must take on the responsibility to discern and contribute to the needs of the less fortunate without the government (of compassion)! 

Reference:

When poverty meets pregnancy, expect a tale of hardship and a stark lesson in family planning, CS Ming, Focus Malaysia, 29 July 2026