Local sectors, global investment help boost ASB

KUALA LUMPUR: The Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) income distribution to unitholders for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY23) was higher compared with the previous year due to the better performance in several local sectors and the global investment climate.

Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), a wholly-owned unit trust management company of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), has declared an income distribution of 5.25 sen a unit for its flagship fund for FY23.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said local sectors such as property and construction as well as medium and small capitalised companies had recorded satisfactory performance and contributed to the increase in ASNB’s income.

“The dividend performance for this year for ASB unit trust managed by ASNB showed a commendable improvement compared with last year, even though the benchmark FBM KLCI registered a decline of 2.5%% year-to-date.

“The Property and Construction Indices showed a rise of 33.1% and 23.5%, respectively, while the FBM Mid 70 and FBM Small Cap recorded an increasing trend of 11.6% and 8.6%,” he told BK.

Mohd Afzanizam said the strategy for investment in the international market also made a positive contribution to ASNB’s portfolio performance.

“The key global indices recorded a significant increase. For instance, (in the United States) the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 22.4% and 41.2%, respectively. Hence, this provided strong support to the investment performance of ASB,” he said.

He expects the equity market to be continuously challenging in the future.

“Nevertheless, the anticipation of interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve is expected to boost the market.

“This is because the cut in interest rate would help the global economy with the reduction in financing cost and stimulate economic activities through capital spending,” he said.

Additionally, Mohd Afzanizam reckons that sectors such as renewable energy and technology are expected to be the main drivers of the financial market.

As for the FBM KLCI, he said the market bellwether is projected to see an uptrend due to its low valuation which would attract interest from foreign investors.