BusinessTimes
THE Employees Provident Fund, Malaysia’s biggest pension fund, will be able to pay higher dividends to its members for this year.
The fund, which manages RM315 billion, paid a dividend of 5.15 per cent for last year. It paid five per cent for 2005.
It has raised dividends for four consecutive years but its chief executive officer Datuk Azlan Zainol declined to say how much the payout will be for this year.
“We ’re confident this year we’ll be paying a dividend slightly more than last year,”he said.
This is because the EPF’s income this year was better, boosted by investments on the equity market. The stock market has gained by more than 20 per cent so far this year “Our equity investment has done very well this year,”he said.
Although the bulk of EPF’s investments are in safe investments like government and corporate bonds, about a fifth are invested in the stock market, which provides better returns.
It also has close to US$2 billion invested abroad, Azlan said.
Last year, about 70 per cent of EPF’s assets were put into government and corporate bonds, its annual report showed.
Disclaimer: Reading materials in this site are obtained from its respective website and it is for information purposes only. It is not Malaysia Unit Trusts - administrator view and it is not to be used against Malaysia Unit Trusts - administrator.
