The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) must adhere to a stringent standard operating procedure (SOP) before being allowed to invest overseas in view of its status as the country’s main retirement fund trustee.

Finance Deputy Minister Datuk Othman Aziz said in this regard, EPF had to make sure its investments were conducive and matched its business plan to ultimately benefit the contributors in the form o dividends.

“EPF and Khazanah Nasional (Bhd) have long invested abroad, not just in the US because it is part of their corporate strategy to maintain a balanced investment portfolio,” he said after visiting the Sungai Kelonchor/Anak Bukit flood mitigation project in Alor Setar yesterday.

He was commenting on Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement about the investments made by Khazanah and EPF in the US recently.

To date, EPF has invested nearly US$7 billion (RM29.32 billion) in equity in the US, while Khazanah, which has an office in Silicon Valley, California, has invested about US$400 million in high-tech companies.

Othman dismissed the claims by certain quarters that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak was only extending unnecessary help to the US through EPF and Khazanah’s business moves.