Malaysia’s GLIC reforms will help economy but risk domestic bias

Malaysia plans to reform its government-linked investment companies (GLICs) in favour of a better balance between profits and social and economic benefits for the country. While market observers believe the changes could improve the firms’ governance, they say they could also put pressure on returns if the GLICs are forced to invest more domestically. Gary Smith, managing director of consultancy Sovereign Focus, explained that the firms’ role in the economy has sometimes been uncl…