The news of the change at EPF, the world's 12th largest pension fund with total assets of about 1 trillion ringgit ($211.69 billion), confirms a Reuters report on Thursday that Malaysia was set to make the appointment.
In a separate statement on Friday, EPF said Ahmad Zulqarnain's appointment would take effect on Feb. 19.
"With his extensive corporate experience, we are looking forward to his dynamic and focused leadership," the fund's chairman, Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir, said in the statement.
Markets will be keenly watching Ahmad Zulqarnain's role in scaling up domestic investments following calls by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for government-linked institutions to support the economy.
He succeeds previous CEO Amir Hamzah Azizan, who joined the cabinet as second finance minister in a December reshuffle.
Before his stint at PNB, Ahmad Zulqarnain, a Harvard University graduate, was deputy managing director at sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional.
He was appointed in July 2020 to head PNB, which managed 343.1 billion ringgit of assets by Nov. 30, 2022, its website says.
Under his leadership, PNB spearheaded the creation of Malaysia's largest automotive group to support a push into electric vehicles, and sought to add infrastructure assets in efforts to diversify its portfolio.
"His leadership has been instrumental in laying out the new three-year strategic plan," said PNB's group chairman, Arshad Raja Tun Uda, adding that he had steered the asset manager towards better portfolio returns and operational agility.
PNB will announce a new president and group CEO in due course, it said.
($1=4.7240 ringgit)
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore and Danial Azhar in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
By Yantoultra Ngui and Danial Azhar
