‘Malaysian businessmen express interest in Maharlika’

KUALA LUMPUR – Several Malaysian businessmen have expressed interest in the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), President Marcos said yesterday.

Marcos noted that Malaysian investors are the “most careful” given their experience with their own sovereign wealth fund, referring to the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal.

“Their experience here is not going to be a detriment. In fact, it is a way for them – they are the most careful of all – they will not invest if they see this will be similar to what happened here,” the President told Filipino journalists at a press conference at the EQ Hotel here.

“So, as long as you can assure them that what their poor experience here – the terrible things that happened here – will not happen with our fund,” he said.

The President said he reassured Malaysian business leaders that Maharlika would be free from “undue political influence.”

“If you remember I am consistently saying it is going to be run professionally and without undue political influence. Of course, the government has an interest in the fund so we have a representative on the board, but on the day-to-day decisions as to what investments would be made it is left to those financial managers that we will be putting into place,” he said.

“With that assurance, I think the assumption is that everyone has learned the lessons from what happened with one of their own sovereign funds – will do everything they can to avoid falling into the same situation,” the President added.

The 1MDB scandal was a large-scale corruption and money laundering conspiracy in 2015 that involved then-prime minister Najib Razak transferring over 2.67-billion Malaysian ringgit from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund to his personal bank accounts.

Marcos signed on July 18 the Maharlika Investment Fund Act of 2023. It is expected to have at least P75 billion in paid-up capital this year, with P50 billion sourced from Land Bank of the Philippines and P25 billion from Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

The Fund will be invested in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and high-impact infrastructure projects, and projects related to sustainable development.