It said yesterday that the investment income was an improvement from the 11.79 billion ringgit year ago.

In the first quarter, equities accounted for 41.59 per cent of the EPF’s total investment assets and contributed 7.93 billion ringgit, representing 61.58 per cent of total investment income for the quarter.

EPF chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said: “Despite developed markets experiencing a decline in the first quarter, following higher-than-anticipated inflation in the US, the EPF has managed to record consistent performance in the quarter, driven by domestic and Asean markets, which recorded positive growth.

“Coupled with diversification into various markets, geographies and sectors, we have been able to cushion the decline in developed market equities, and this has resulted in consistent performance to our overall portfolio with domestic equities emerging as an outperformer.”

A total of 50.53 per cent of EPF’s investment assets were in fixed income instruments, which continue to provide consistent and stable income.

The first quarter saw fixed income investments record an income of 4.76 billion ringgit, equivalent to 36.99 per cent of the quarterly investment income.

Income from Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) & Equivalent in Q1 2018 increased to 2.24 billion ringgit.

Loans and Bonds generated an investment income of 2.5 billion ringgit while investments in Money Market Instruments, which represented 2.91 per cent of the total investment assets, contributed 292.91 million ringgit to the investment income.

However, real estate & infrastructure recorded negative investment income at 107.38 million ringgit.

The EPF said this was primarily caused by the weakening of US dollar against other major currencies, including the Ringgit, which impacted valuations on the investment.

The negative investment income recorded for the asset class is, however, expected to be offset by inflow of investment income in the coming quarters.

The value of EPF investment assets reached 814.38 billion ringgit, a 0.53 per cent or 4.25 billion ringgit increase, from December 31, 2017. Out of the total investment asset, 321.05 billion ringgit , or 39.42 per cent, were in Shariah-compliant investment while the balance were invested in the conventional portfolio.

“A total of 1.22 billion ringgit out of the 12.88 billion ringgit total gross investment income was generated for Simpanan Shariah while 11.65 billion ringgit for Simpanan Konvensional,” it said.

The EPF said Simpanan Shariah derives its income solely from its portion of the Shariah assets while income for Simpanan Konvensional is generated by its share of both Shariah and conventional assets.