Amanah Raya Berhad (AmanahRaya Trustees)
Malaysians who want the government-backed default trustee for estate administration, wasiat and will custody, and fund managers needing an SC-approved unit trust or bond trustee.
Trustee Footprint Index
84/100A reproducible score of public-record footprint and disclosure, not fees, quality or suitability. See the methodology. Disclosed scale is often self-reported.
| Category | Estate planning |
| Ownership | Government of Malaysia (Minister of Finance Incorporated) |
| Established | 1921 (as Department of Public Trustee and Official Administrator); corporatised as Amanah Raya Berhad in 1995 |
| Headquarters | Kuala Lumpur |
| Licensing | Public Trust Corporation Act 1995 (estate/public trustee mandate). Fund arm AmanahRaya Trustees Berhad is registered under the Trust Companies Act 1949 and approved by the Securities Commission Malaysia to act as trustee for collective investment schemes, corporate bonds/sukuk and private retirement schemes. |
| Scale | Parent group reports over 230,000 estate cases and 155,000 administration matters valued at more than RM16.7 billion, plus over RM500 million in unclaimed pending funds and 20 branches nationwide (as of 2023). FY2023 group revenue RM156 million, net profit after tax RM18 million. Fund arm ART acts as trustee/custodian for over 250 collective investment schemes with total assets under trusteeship exceeding RM600 billion. |
| Best for | Malaysians who want the government-backed default trustee for estate administration, wasiat and will custody, and fund managers needing an SC-approved unit trust or bond trustee. |
Amanah Raya Berhad is Malaysia's oldest and largest trustee, and the only one carrying a statutory public-trustee mandate. Its roots go back to the Department of Public Trustee and Official Administrator, set up in 1921. That department was corporatised on 29 May 1995 and began operating as Amanah Raya Berhad on 1 August 1995. It is wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia through Minister of Finance Incorporated and sits under the Ministry of Finance. Its authority to administer estates and act as public trustee comes from the Public Trust Corporation Act 1995, which gives it exclusive jurisdiction to administer small estates summarily.
The parent company's core business is estate and wealth administration for individuals: will writing (wasiat), estate administration, trust administration, hibah (marketed as HiBAHKU) and takaful-based inheritance products. It also holds unclaimed estates and pending funds. As of 2023 the group reported more than 230,000 estate cases and 155,000 administration matters worth over RM16.7 billion, plus more than RM500 million in pending funds awaiting rightful claimants, operating from 20 branches nationwide.
The fund-trustee work sits in a separate subsidiary, AmanahRaya Trustees Berhad (ART), incorporated on 23 March 2007 and registered under the Trust Companies Act 1949. ART is approved by the Securities Commission Malaysia to act as trustee for collective investment schemes, corporate bonds and sukuk, and private retirement schemes. It describes itself as trustee and custodian for over 250 collective investment schemes (unit trust funds, wholesale funds, ETFs and REITs) with total assets under trusteeship exceeding RM600 billion, making it one of the largest fund trustees in the country. The wider group also runs asset management and real estate subsidiaries.
On transparency and governance, the picture is mixed. A parliamentary Public Accounts Committee report found the group lost RM114.34 million in 2019 from investments made without Investment Committee approval, with a follow-up audit tabled in Parliament in June 2022. Operational disclosure beyond headline figures is limited, and group profitability is modest (FY2023 revenue of RM156 million and net profit after tax of RM18 million). Where specific figures are not published, they are noted here as not disclosed rather than estimated.
Services
- Will writing (wasiat)
- Estate administration (including summary administration of small estates)
- Unclaimed estates and pending funds custody
- Trust administration (private and corporate trusts)
- Hibah (HiBAHKU) and takaful-based inheritance planning
- Unit trust, wholesale fund, ETF and REIT trusteeship (via ART)
- Corporate bond and sukuk trusteeship
- Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) trusteeship and custodial services
Strengths
- Government-owned and the oldest trustee in Malaysia, tracing to the 1921 Department of Public Trustee, so counterparty risk is low
- Sole institution with statutory public-trustee authority under the Public Trust Corporation Act 1995, including exclusive jurisdiction to administer small estates summarily for faster settlement
- Very large scale on both sides: hundreds of thousands of estate cases and, through ART, over RM600 billion under trusteeship across 250-plus funds
- Full spectrum under one roof: wasiat, estate, trust, hibah, plus fund, REIT, bond and PRS trusteeship
- Nationwide branch network (20 branches) makes it accessible outside Kuala Lumpur
Watch-outs
- Governance concerns: a Public Accounts Committee report found the group lost RM114.34 million in 2019 from investments made without Investment Committee approval
- As a large government entity, estate administration can be bureaucratic and slower than clients expect
- Over RM500 million in pending funds sits unclaimed, reflecting the difficulty families face tracing and claiming administered assets
- Group financials are modest (FY2023 net profit RM18 million on RM156 million revenue), and detailed operational disclosure is limited
Official website: https://www.amanahraya.my/