KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB)’s wholly-owned unit trust company, Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB), has declared income distribution for five funds, two of which are its fixed income funds — Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 (ASB 2) and Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) — for the financial period ending March 31, 2020.
ASB 2 unit holders, which total 439,543 now, will get an income distribution per unit of 4.75 sen, while the 553,188 ASM unit holders will get 4.25 sen.
The total income distribution payout for the two fixed price funds amounts to almost RM1.4 billion, PNB said in a statement today. As at Feb 29, ASB 2 recorded a net realized income of RM413.30 million, while ASM had a net realized income of RM646.70 million.
The other three funds it declared income distribution for, are variable price funds ASN Equity 3, ASN Imbang 2 and ASN Sara 1.
ASN Equity 3 unit holders will get an income distribution per unit of 3.25 sen, while ASN Imbang 2 unit holders will get 3.50 sen, and ASN Sara 1 will get 4.55 sen. The total payout for these three funds amount to RM228.7 million.
"The total returns of the three funds are benchmarked against the FBM 100 and Maybank's 12-month fixed deposit, at a ratio customized to each fund," ASNB explained.
It further said that the income distributions declared by these funds are derived from the funds’ realized gains, dividends and other income.
“In line with its target benchmarks, PNB has always maintained a prudent asset allocation strategy, and its significant exposure in the public markets provides PNB with a degree of investment liquidity to deliver sustainable returns to the unit holders.
“Despite a challenging year in 2019, PNB’s funds’ portfolios have held up in relative terms, outperforming their respective benchmarks largely due to the exposure in high-quality stocks with strong fundamentals and the steps taken to diversify the portfolio further,” it said.
Assessing current unprecedented market conditions, PNB cautioned investors will continue to see companies facing earnings pressure and that this will not only be confined to the Malaysian market, but globally as well.
“While the economic impact from current events will be widely felt, as an investor with a longer-term horizon, the expectation is for the market to recover over the medium and longer run, after establishing a new normal. In adapting to these changes, PNB is focused on tapping into the prospects offered by the market mispricing, to ensure that it will be able to ride through this volatility,” it said.
PNB added it will continue to build its investment portfolio's resilience as its investments undergo a rigorous evaluation process, and as the investment e-commendations go through a multi-layer governance process.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/pnb-announces-475-sen-income-distribution-asb-2-unit-425-sen-asm
