EPF declares 6.15% dividend rate, 5.9% for syariah

The EPF reassured its members that it has a strong and robust governance framework in place to prevent fraud on its members

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has declared a dividend rate of 6.15% for conventional savings, with a payout amounting to RM43bil.

It also declared a 5.9% dividend rate for syariah savings, with a payout amounting to RM4.32bil.

In total, the payout for 2018 totalled RM47.31bil – a marginal decrease of 1.7% from 2017.

“With a real dividend of 3.93% for conventional savings and 3.68% for syariah savings on a rolling three-year basis respectively, the EPF has exceeded its mandate of delivering a dividend of at least 2.5% on a yearly basis and at least 2% real dividend on a rolling three-year basis,” it said in a statement.

“We are very grateful and pleased that we have been able to meet our two strategic investment targets.

“More importantly, we consistently deliver above-inflation returns to preserve and increase the value of our members’ savings over the long term and help them to achieve a better retirement future,” said EPF chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.

This, he said, was despite 2018 being a difficult year, marked by volatility and a downward trend in global markets due to the US-China trade war and four rounds of US interest rate hikes in the year alone.

“But we remain focused on our long-term strategy and our portfolio diversification has provided resiliency and delivered commendable returns to our members,” he said.

Gross investment income for 2018 was RM50.88bil, of which RM4.62bil was attributed to syariah savings, proportionate to its share of total syariah assets, while RM46.26bil was attributed to Conventional Savings.

The lower income for EPF’s syariah portfolio was due to the underperformance of the telecommunications, construction and oil and gas sectors in the domestic portfolio.

The dividend payout for each account was derived from total gross realised income for the year after deducting the net impairment on financial assets, unrealised gains or losses from intercompany transactions, investment expenses, operating expenditures, statutory charges, as well as dividend on withdrawals.

The payout amount required for each 1% of the dividend last year was RM7.72bil, which was higher when compared to RM7.02bil in 2017.

Equities continued to be the main contributor of income last year with 57.55%, amounting to RM29.28bil.

In 2017, EPF declared a dividend rate of 6.9% for conventional savings and 6.4% for syariah savings. — Bernama