KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's largest fund manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) appointed a new group chief executive on Wednesday, in the latest management reshuffle at a state-linked firm since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad returned to power last year.
Jalil Rasheed, currently Invesco's CEO of South Asian operations, will join PNB and take over from Abdul Rahman Ahmad whose contract ends on Sep. 30, PNB said in a statement.
It said the appointment was "in line with the government's wish to make optimal use of Malaysian global talents and consistent with PNB's strategic initiative to diversify its assets globally."
Abdul Rahman will become non-executive chairman at Sime Darby Bhd (KL:SIME), in which PNB owns a 52% stake.
Government-linked funds and firms have seen a number of leadership shake-ups since the unprecedented victory of Mahathir's opposition coalition in May 2018 elections, as he had criticized the management of these firms and promised structural reforms.
In June last year, former central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz was named group chairman at PNB and a month later, sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional's managing director and entire board resigned en masse due to political pressure.
PNB currently has over 300 billion ringgit ($72 billion) in assets under management. The fund was set up in 1978 by the government to enhance wealth among ethnic Malays via participation in the equity market.