Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) has announced its 2023 dividend. ASB 2023 dividend rate including bonus is 5.25%, slightly higher than 5.10% last year.
Trend
For its previous dividends, you can refer to this page.
The dividend of this fund has been slowly rising since 2020, but it is still lower than pre-2020.
Outlook
The benchmark of this fund is the same as ASM, the Maybank 12-Month Fixed Deposit, which currently has a return of 2.85% per annum. However, I think we should use Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) as the benchmark as this fund invests in the local equity market. Using the year-to-date return of KLCI in 2023 (-2.99% as on 26 December 2023), its performance is better.
In the past five years, the lowest dividend rate of ASB was 5%. Moving forward, I think ASB would be able to give at least 5% dividend. This fund usually has the highest dividend rate among all the fixed price funds.
The investment limit of ASB now is RM 300,000. If you are eligible for ASB, I strongly encourage you to open an account. ASB is a great form of defensive investment instrument. There will be no fluctuation in unit price and the dividend rate is good, given its risk. You may treat this fund as a bond. With this fund in your portfolio, you would have something to provide a buffer to your return if the other parts of your portfolio do not perform well.
Disclaimer: This post is for informational purpose only. You should use judgment and conduct due diligence before taking any action or implementing any plan suggested or recommended in this article.