Zeti Aziz to step down as PNB chair on April 30

 

Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) group chairperson Zeti Akhtar Aziz said she will be stepping down from her post on April 30, when the company is scheduled to hold its annual general meeting.

She said by then, she would have completed her three-year term and has written to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin earlier this year to inform that she did not plan to renew her term upon its completion.

Zeti communicated this in an internal email to PNB staff this week, which was sighted by Malaysiakini. 

The former Bank Negara governor and member of then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Council of Eminent Persons, was appointed to the post effective June 30, 2018.

In her email, she said she wanted PNB to achieve three goals during her term, namely to diversify PNB’s investment portfolio into international markets, to strengthen its ability to handle risk and liquidity, and to "transform" PNB as an organisation.

“I am pleased to inform that despite the highly challenging and extreme environment experienced during this period, great strides forward have been made on all these three fronts,” she said.

Among others, she said the PNB portfolio is now more diversified and even managed to yield a “significant payoff” despite the bearish equity market.

However, she said the transformation agenda remains unfinished business and the diversification process needs to continue.

Zeti added that PNB needs to care about the impact of its investments and environmental, social, and governance factors.

“While our investments need to ensure that returns are being generated, we also need to be assured that the returns are sustainable,” she said. - Mkini