KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) wholly owned unit trust management company, Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), has declared a total income distribution of 5.75 sen per unit for Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) for the financial year ending Dec 31 (FY2025).
In a statement yesterday, PNB said the total payout amounts to RM10.4bil, the highest quantum of annual distribution paid since ASB’s inception and will benefit 11.4 million ASB unitholders.
PNB group chairman Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda said this brings ASB’s cumulative income distribution to RM206.7bil, reflecting the resilience and strength of ASB’s investment portfolio.
“We are aware of the broader challenge of insufficient savings and the need to cultivate stronger saving habits among Malaysians.
“To address this, we plan to amplify our financial literacy efforts, guided by our purpose, to uplift the financial lives of Malaysians across generations,” he said in a Bernama report.
According to the statement, ASB sustained its dividend payout compared to 2024 and continues to deliver sustainable, above market returns, as it improved its competitive spread against its benchmark of Maybank 12-month fixed deposit (FD) rate, which recorded an average rate of 2.29% to 346 basis points.
It said ASNB has distributed a total dividend of RM15.3bil in 2025, the highest ever, bringing total distributions since inception to RM279bil, reflecting a positive and consistent performance trajectory across all its 18 unit trust funds.
The government-linked investment firm said distribution rates for ASNB fixed price funds improved year-on-year, maintaining healthy spreads above the average 12-month FD benchmark, ensuring competitive returns for its unitholders.
At the same time, ASNB’s variable price funds continue to perform strongly with all of its funds outperforming their respective benchmarks and four of the total 12 funds ranked in the top quartile of their respective segments, based on their rolling three-year total return, it said.
President and group chief executive Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad said PNB has performed well across key priorities of growing customer nett inflows, delivering sustainable income distributions to unitholders, and strengthening the group’s proprietary capital, resulting in a 4.5% increase in asset under management (AUM) to RM364bil, after second year implementing PNB’s LEAP-6 Strategic Plan.
“We had made good progress in the past year and are on track towards our target of achieving RM400bil AUM by 2027,” he said.
ASNB’s unique account holders remain steady at 13 million, supported by a gross addition of 560,000 account holders during the year, demonstrating sustained public trust and loyalty.
Going into 2026, PNB will continue efforts to grow Malaysians’ savings, anchored on its #KitaGenerasiLabur campaign, Auto Labur digital recurring-savings initiatives and Pandu Impianmu, alongside new enablers such as the khultah-based zakat payment method using the Al-Mustaghallat approach beginning in the second quarter of 2026.
“Moving forward, we remain cautious on the investment outlook for 2026, as global capital markets continue to face volatility and uncertainty amid profound structural shifts in the global economic order, including trade policy disruptions and concerns over potential overvaluation, particularly in artificial intelligence-driven investments.
“Domestically, PNB will work closely with policymakers and key market players to strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic equity market, ensuring it reflects Malaysia’s strong underlying fundamentals and economic growth driven by the Madani framework, while catalysing domestic investment and promoting inclusive growth,” he added.
PNB said the units re-invested from the income distribution will be credited into the unitholders’ accounts on Jan 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, analysts have described the distribution as balanced and resilient, supported by PNB’s conservative distribution framework and a low inflation environment.
They said the payout preserved capital stability while offering investors meaningful real returns amid an uneven global investment landscape.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd’s director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the 5.75 sen distribution reflected a risk-adjusted equilibrium shaped by tariff-related uncertainty, delayed corporate investment, uneven cross-asset returns, currency translation effects and continued reliance on domestic earnings.
“The result is above average when assessed against ASB’s structure, which distributes only from realised income and maintains a stable RM1 unit price,” he said.
Mohd Sedek said this meant market volatility was absorbed internally through reserves, preserving capital value for unitholders while delivering consistent income.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the distribution should encourage higher savings among ASB investors, particularly as inflation in the first 10 months of the year stood at 1.4%.
“As such, the real dividend rate remains positive at around 4.35%.
“In addition, a strategy that diversifies exposure to global markets could help cushion the impact of a slowdown in the domestic equity market,” he said.
He added that investors should remain invested to benefit from the compounding effect.
