KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): Khazanah Nasional Bhd on Wednesday named Datuk Hisham Hamdan as its new chief investment officer effective immediately, filling the vacancy left over a year ago, following the departure of Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz.

Hisham is currently Khazanah’s executive director of public markets. His appointment allows for greater focus on building the sovereign wealth fund’s capabilities as an investment institution while creating new capacity and competencies, Khazanah said in a statement.

“We are confident that his vast experience and knowledge will be an asset to Khazanah's ongoing efforts in gearing up the organisation to build the required capacity, as well as institutionalise talent development, part of our overall strategy in developing a winning team,” said managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir.

“This, along with our long-term strategy of Advancing Malaysia, would further allow us to strengthen our position in facing the challenging global market condition,” he added.

Hisham joined Khazanah in April 2011 from Sime Darby Bhd, and held various senior positions in strategy and business development spanning healthcare, energy, and utilities sectors.

He is also the current chairman of Khazanah’s 69.6%-owned UEM Sunrise Bhd and the board of trustees of the Khazanah Research Institute.

He was the previous chairman of UDA Holdings Bhd, a past director of Iskandar Investment Bhd, and a former board member of ValueCap.