Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzNIIF) held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on 16 September 2026, approving the appointment of Hugh van Cutsem as an independent member of the Fund’s Supervisory Board. The announcement was made in a joint press release by UzNIIF and Franklin Templeton.
Shareholders approved both the appointment and the terms of the agreement with the new board member. Following his election, the Supervisory Board consists of five members: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov; head of the Department for Financial Technologies, Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence at the Presidential Administration Bobur Khojayev; Presidential Representative for WTO Affairs and Chairman of the Committee on Food Safety Azizbek Urunov; Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance for Oil and Gas Khurshid Mustafayev; and van Cutsem.
Van Cutsem has extensive experience working with listed closed-end investment funds, capital raising and investor relations. He previously held senior positions at Kepler Partners LLP, Miton Global Opportunities Trust, JP Morgan Cazenove and Smith's Corporate Advisory.
Marius Dan, CEO of Franklin Templeton Asset Management JV LLC and the Fund’s trustee, said van Cutsem’s appointment was another step toward strengthening corporate governance and independent oversight following the Fund’s successful IPO.
According to him, this followed the appointment in the first half of 2026 of 10 independent directors and seven representatives of Franklin Templeton’s investment team to 13 companies in the UzNIIF portfolio.
In addition to electing the new board member, shareholders considered the approval of regulations governing remuneration for independent Supervisory Board members and the specific terms of van Cutsem’s contract, including authorization to sign the relevant agreement.
According to a presentation for shareholders prepared for the meeting, the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) stood at US$2.63 billion as of 31 July 2026, while net profit for the first half of 2026 amounted to about US$170 million.
UzNIIF’s portfolio includes stakes ranging from 25% to 40% in 13 state-owned enterprises operating in the transport, financial, energy, utilities and telecommunications sectors. Under Presidential Resolution PP-145, six portfolio companies of the Fund are planned to be listed through IPOs by the end of 2028. These companies account for about 64% of the Fund’s net assets.
UzNIIF was established under Presidential Resolution No. PP-303 dated 27 August 2024 as part of Uzbekistan’s economic reform programme. Since May 2026, the Fund has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Tashkent Republican Stock Exchange.
The Fund’s trustee and asset manager is Tashkent-based Franklin Templeton Asset Management, an indirect subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. Its assets under management stood at US$1.83 trillion as of 31 August 2026.
