Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) is one of the fixed-priced funds offered by Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB). Its latest dividend is paid on 1 April 2019. The amount is RM 0.055/unit. This translates to a rate of 5.5%.
Trend
The dividends of the previous four years were 6.6 cents (2015), 6.3 cents (2016), 6 cents (2017) and 6.25 cents (2018) respectively.
The dividend of 2019 (5.5 cents) represents the lowest amount in the history of this fund. This is also the first time that the dividend drops below 6 cents. The lowest dividend recorded previously was the 6 cents in year 2017.
Conclusion
Based on this performance, is ASM still a good investment? For the time being, I will say yes. My rationale is that this fixed-priced fund is almost risk-free and it is still hard to deposit money into the fund (at least for me as I frequently did not manage to increase my deposit). The yield is still better than most fixed deposits offered by banks. Although the dividend is low for this year, this is in line with the performance of Malaysia stock market last year. Nonetheless, if the dividend continues to drop in the future, maybe we should look for an alternative then.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a recommendation to buy or to sell financial instruments nor an offer to buy or sell financial instruments.