Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) has paid its latest dividend on 1 April 2021. The dividend is only 4 cents, translating to a dividend rate of 4%. This is the third consecutive decrease in the annual dividend of this fund.
Trend
For the previous dividends, you can refer to this article.
The dividend has decreased by 5.88% compared to last year. ASM is again breaking its lowest dividend record. As I have predicted last year, its dividend did not get better.
Outlook
The benchmark that ASM uses to compare itself with is the Maybank 12-Month Fixed Deposit, which has a return of 1.95%. However, I think this benchmark is not so suitable as ASM invests in Malaysian equity market, which is different from fixed deposit. So, I would like to use KLCI as the benchmark. In 2020, the return of KLCI is 2.4%. Thus, ASM still outperforms my benchmark.
I am treating the fixed price funds that I own as part of my emergency fund now, instead of viewing them as investments. I was unable to put more money into the funds anyway. So, I am just going to keep my money in the funds and accumulate the dividends.