The Pilgrims Fund Board (Lembaga Tabung Haji) will increase its investments in the real estate sector this year in view
of the good returns last year, said its Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Datuk Ismee Ismail.

He said the board's real estate investments in Malaysia and abroad have yielded good returns, and this strategy should be maintained to ensure the best returns for its depositors.

"We expect to further increase our investments in the real estate sector, and going by the allocation, we should invest up to 20 per cent of our fund in real estate.

"As of now, it's only 13 per cent, so we have room to further expand Tabung Haji's investment in this sector," he told reporters after the announcement of a Golden Jubilee bonus here today.

For the year ended Dec 31, 2012, there were 8.2 million Tabung Haji depositors with a cumulative fund of RM35.8 billion, up from seven million depositors and RM31.7 billion in 2011.

Ismee said the real estate sector is expected to yield an average return of around 5.5 to six per cent, and Tabung Haji will work to raise the rate of return.

Asked whether Tabung Haji is looking to invest all the allocation for the property sector this year, he said: "We don't want to rush as Tabung Haji has a unique investment mandate.

"We can only invest in syariah-compliant investments so therefore our challenge is always to find syariah-compliant investments in the form of real estate."

Tabung Haji is building a Haj Complex in KLIA, Sepang and in Alor Setar, he said, adding the existing investment strategies will be continued including investing in the equity sector. -- Bernama