A super remedy for GLICs

LTAT has seen its dividend payout rate decline from 15% in 2014 to 5% in 2022. More concerning is the volatility of these payouts, with a dividend payout of 2% in 2018, which is lower than the EPF minimum guaranteed payout of 2.5%.

THE EPF’s recent dividend announcement reinforces the suggestion in last week’s Star Biz7 issue to outsource the financial management of government-linked investment companies (GLICs) to the provident fund, which has proven to be an excellent and trustworthy steward of private sector retirement savings.

EPF’s track record speaks for itself, with an average payout of 5.95% for conventional savings over the 2014-2023 period, and 5.43% for syariah savings over 2017-2023. The dividend yield gap between conventional and syariah savings has narrowed as well.