KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has announced an income distribution payout of 4.25 sen per unit for its flagship unit trust fund, Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year ending December 31, 2020 (FY20).
The payout comprised an income distribution of 3.50 sen per unit, as well as a bonus payment of 0.75 sen.
It will also include an additional “ehsan” payment of 0.75 sen per unit for the first 30,000 ASB units held by each unitholder, in conjunction with ASB’s 30th anniversary.
Chairman Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said ASB’s performance remains competitive compared to other low-risk investment instruments, and continues to be a sound option for individuals with a low risk profile and a long-term investment horizon.
“Over the years, ASB income distribution has consistently remain competitive despite the negative performance of the FBM KLCI in the past five out of the recent six years,” she said after announcing the ASB income distribution for FY20 virtually today.
ASB’s income distribution involves a total payout of RM7.6 billion, set to benefit 10.2 million unit holders who own 173.2 billion units.
Since its inception in 1990, the total cumulative income distribution and bonus payout for ASB amounted to RM159.6 billion.
Zeti said PNB has judiciously diversified ASB’s investments into other asset classes and global markets to ensure that the fund will continue to have the capacity to deliver long-term sustainable returns.
ASB’s investment in international public equity has increased to 5.9 per cent as at November 2020 from 3.6 per cent in 2019, while ASB’s international exposure and investments into other asset classes — such as fixed income — has increased to 16 per cent from 10 per cent in 2019.
“Moving forward, PNB will continue to focus on the long-term investment strategy.
“In other words, we are not going to be distracted by short-term volatility, and it (the investment strategy) will be based on our assessments of the fundamentals while tactfully navigating short- to medium-term challenges to generate sustainable returns for our unitholders,” said Zeti.
In a year impacted by Covid-19, PNB’s total assets under management grew to RM320.5 billion as at November 2020, reflecting a 2.7 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, the total units in circulation for its 15 funds grew by 3.4 per cent to 263.2 billion units, with more than 200,000 new accounts registered for the year, bringing the total number of accounts to 14.5 million, with 12.2 million unique account holders.
PNB president and group chief executive Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn said the fund manager has continued to make good progress in its portfolio diversification, strategically realigning its investments both in terms of geography and asset classes to achieve its investment goals.
For FY20, PNB’s aggregate global exposure has increased to 11.9 per cent from 8.1 per cent in 2019, with greater income contribution from its global investment assets.
ASB transactions has been temporarily suspended from December 22, 2020 to January 3, 2021 to facilitate the computation of income distribution.
