KUALA LUMPUR – The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) declared the dividend distribution of 6.1% for Conventional savings and 5.65% for Syariah savings for the financial year 2021.
The performance exceeds the distribution of 5.20% for conventional savings and 4.9% for Syariah savings for 2020. Besides that, it is also better than the pre-pandemic year in 2019 with 5.45% for the Conventional savings and 5% for the Syariah savings.
The distribution for 2021 involved RM56.72 billion, with RM50.45 billion allocated for the conventional savings and RM6.27 billion for the syariah savings.
In 2021, the EPF has rebalanced and managed its investment portfolio by purchasing strong stocks at interesting rate, besides, it also benefited from foreign investments, which contributed to 56% of the total returns.
As of 31 December 2021, the EPF recorded and increment of 6% in gross investment income to RM69.06 billion from RM63.45 billion in 2020, driven by the equity market recovery and a big portion of the current asset class during the global recovery.
In 2021, the EPF had also recorded a negative nett deposit (deposit after taking into factor of withdrawal) for the first time in 20 years amounting to RM58.2 billion. However, it remained strong and prudent in its long-term investment strategy, besides adapting to the challenges in ensuring sustainable long-term returns.
EPS recorded gross investment income of RM67.06 billion, where RM6.91 billion was allocated to the syariah savings.
This commendable achievement was due to the approach of diversifying portfolios based on the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) which has ensured that the EPF could withstand financial shocks and remain stable during uncertainties.
Based on the class assets, the fixed income instruments encompassed of 45% of investments and 44% of equities. Meanwhile, properties and infrastructure and money market are 6% and 5% respectively.
Equities, especially, the foreign public listed equities had recorded a return of investment (ROI) of 10.44%, thus, become the main contributor of returns.
The income from equities asset class was RM38.93 billion or 58% from the total gross income of EPF.
Private equities portfolio also showed good performance by recording an ROI of 19.01%.
With the actual average dividend for three years after inflation adjustment of 4.91% for conventional savings and 4.51% for Syariah savings, the EPF has exceeded its strategic target to declare the actual average dividend of at least 2.00% for three years consecutively.
The EPF will increase its investments in various domestic asset classes in 2022.
As the main investor in the Malaysian financial market, it will also help to drive economic activities and continuous economy recovery.
The dividend will be credited on 6 March 2022.
Members of EPF may check their account via the i-Akaun or get their statement from the EPF kiosks nationwide. -MalaysiaGazette
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