As a Malaysian, I bet you have heard about “Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad” (ASNB) before. They are famous for their fixed price funds. If you have never heard about it, I shall give you some brief information about this investment company.
ASNB is a subsidiary of “Permodalan Nasional Berhad” (PNB). It acts as the fund manager for funds launched by PNB since 1979.
Okay, honestly, its history does not concern us that much (or at all). What are the fixed price funds?
6 fixed price funds
The table below shows the funds available in ASNB.
| Fund Name | Logo | Asset Class | Eligibility | Financial Year End | Maximum Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) |  | Equity | Malaysian bumiputera* | December 31 | RM 200000 |
| Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 (ASB 2) |  | Mixed asset | Malaysian bumiputera * | March 31 | RM 200000 |
| Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) |  | Equity | Malaysian | August 31 | Unlimited, subject to availability of units** |
| Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) |  | Equity | Malaysian | March 31 | Unlimited, subject to availability of units** |
| Amanah Saham Didik (ASD) |  | Equity | Malaysian bumiputera | June 30 | Unlimited, subject to availability of units |
| Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS 1Malaysia) |  | Equity | Malaysian | September 30 | Unlimited, subject to availability of units** |
*Malaysian citizens of Siamese/Thai descendant, Portuguese/Eurasian descendant and non- bumiputera Muslim convert are also allowed.
**Each race has its own quota. Once the quota for your race is reached, you cannot purchase anymore.
Benefits
Why do I recommend these funds? I shall introduce their benefits now.
1. Fixed price (RM 1/unit) means there will be no price fluctuation. These funds can thus be regarded as saving accounts.
2. Money invested will not depreciate due to the fixed price. Worst case scenario will be that the value in the account remains constant. I do not foresee that ASNB will bankrupt.
3. These funds give consistent dividend. There is at least 6% dividend per year for all of these funds. It translates to 6% capital gain per year.
4. The dividend earned is not taxable. So, we do not have to worry about tax filing.
5. No sales charge. Unlike mutual funds or its own variable price funds, ASNB does not charge entry fee for these 6 funds.
6. On-the-spot redemption means you can get the money over the counter immediately. As long as it is a working day, you can withdraw your fund without any hassle (the only hassle may be the queue). Normally, you will receive cash for the redemption. Nonetheless, if the amount is too big, ASNB may issue cheque or use bank transfer. If you use money from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to invest, the money from the redemption will go back to your EPF account.
Cons
What are the cons of these funds? Honestly, I could not think of anything bad about these funds. Though they are really too good to be true, I must say that they are REAL. The only drawback that I experienced last time was the requirement to go to the ASNB branch/agent to deposit. This problem is now mitigated with the opening of its online portal. However, the withdrawal must still be done over the counter. Maybe this is their only shortcoming.
Online portal MyASNB
This portal is functioning since June 2017. Once registered, you can check your balance and invest through the portal. The payment method will be done online through Financial Process Exchange (FPX).
How to register? First, you have to go to one of the ASNB branches or its agents (Maybank, Maybank Islamic, CIMB Bank, RHB Bank, Pos Malaysia, Affin Bank, Bank Simpanan Nasional, Alliance Bank, AmBank and AmBank Islamic). Update your personal details, especially your mobile phone number. Make sure the number is correct as you will receive Transaction Authorisation Code (TAC) on your phone. What to bring along? Only your MyKad.
After that, go to the portal (Link) and click on Register (“Dartar di sini”). Follow the instruction and you will set up your online account in no time.
Conclusion
What are you waiting for? If you do not have these funds yet, I strongly recommend you to get one. Go to ASNB branch or its agent to open an account. If you are a bumiputera, go ahead and max out on ASB and ASB 2. They are specifically created for you to earn money. However, if you are a non-bumiputera like me, you might not succeed at your first attempt to invest due to the quota. But I urge you to keep trying. Have patience and you will be rewarded. And do not forget to apply for MyASNB too!
Comments
dear all, good discussion. my experience is that cimb bank and maybank are very professional agents for asn/asb. it is true that to open an account and to withdraw funds, one has to be present at the bank counter but nowadays with many banking transactions being done online and via atm the queue is not that long. for advice on opening asb accounts and availability of investment units, i have found cimb bank to be excellent and responsive. my favourite is cimb bank empire subang (less crowd and knowledgeable staff). also once you register for asb online account top up is easy as it links to our bank account to transfer funds. min RM1 max RM30000 per day.
hope this helps
Author
Hi, Azman.
Thanks for your helpful post.
Hi Leckas,
It is good to hear from you and thanks for your reply.
Yes, I have got ASM fund in my portfolio besides ASN Equity 5 and I was able to invest in ASM online without going through the ASN Equity 5 during the trading hours :))
Anyhow, thanks for your time and hope to see your next article sooner, thanks again!
Warm Regards,
Author
Hi, Siew Ai.
You are welcome. It’s good to hear that you are able to invest in ASM.
Thanks for reading my articles too. I hope you find them helpful. I will try my best to follow my schedule of posting twice per week. Thanks for your support.
I stumbled upon your blog/articles by chance as I wanted a summary of the funds still available or offered by ASNB. I found your articles very informative, easy to understand and to the point.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with others.
Author
Hi, Adzlin.
Thanks for leaving the comment. I am glad that you find this blog useful.
Hope to see you around.
Hi Leckas,
Read your article. It was informative.
Two days ago I was passing by CIMB in Brickfields and registered for ASN. I was asked to pay RM100.00 then I was told that I am investing in ASN3 ie specifically for Indian community and maximum investment is RM30K.
Since then I am reading about ASN 2 etc.
I understand that ASN2 fully subscribed and you have to wait to get units.
Some investors camp in banks to try to get units. Some buy and sell and make quick buck! Legal illegal?
Could you please enlighten me on this.
How does it work?
Hi Leckas,
What I bought was ASM3 not ASN3.
Sorry
Author
Hi, Ngs Pal.
Great to hear that you are able to invest in ASM3.
As for the buy and sell operation that you mentioned, I am not aware of this kind of operation. As far as I know, the units are non-transferable. The only way that I could think of is using another person’s account. But this means that the money will be under the account holder’s name and only the account holder can withdraw the money. So, this is definitely a big risk because we can’t do anything if the account holder denies accepting our money. As for the legality of this issue, I cannot comment on it as I am not trained in that field.
I believe you did open a myASNB portal account. I would advise you to use this online account for your purchasing in the future. ASM3 and ASM2 dividend rates are almost similar, so I think either one would be good to invest in.
Hope I did address your concerns.
The ASNB dividend has shown consistent decrease in percentage over the years with last year only 5.5%, is it still worth to buy??
Author
Hi, Angel.
The dividend did show a decreasing trend and some funds even posted 5% dividend. However, I think that it is quite difficult to find such a relatively safe investment vehicle. So, I personally think that it still makes sense to invest in these fixed-price funds.
Nonetheless, if the dividend rate drops below 4%, maybe it is time to look for some other instruments. What do you think?
Yes i believe what you say is true, since I only just started getting ready to buy, i was worried that this year it would drop below 4% hence the question. However, like you said, there’s really limited choice on such safe investment vehicle, or else I would’ve just dump all into FD.
Author
Yes. Hopefully the dividend rate would not dip below 4% in the future. All the best in getting the units!
Hi Leckas,
Between ASM2 Wawasan and ASN Sara2, which one would you recommend better please?
Author
Hi, Wern.
I do not have a favourable view on ASNB variable price fund including ASN Sara 2. To answer your question, I went to ASNB website to check on the returns (Link). ASN Sara 2 is a relatively new fund and its total return in 2019 was 2.79%. The return for ASM 2 WAWASAN was 5.00%. So I think it is clear that which one is better.
However, for ASN Sara 2, you might have a chance to get better returns if you are able to buy at lowest price and sell at highest price. But, I believe not many of people can achieve this feat consistently.
Nonetheless, it is quite hard to put money into ASM 2 nowadays. If you prefer fixed income mutual fund, I would advise to look for one in other fund companies with better total returns. But it is all up to you in the end.
Hi, my wife is Malaysian (I am British) and she is invested in ASB 1/2/3 and ASM2/3.
Any predictions for the upcoming ASM2/3 dividends?
We are hoping for 4% or better but it is very difficult to judge.
Author
Hi, Richard.
The dividends of ASM2 and ASM3 were historically similar to the dividend of ASM. Since ASM has given a dividend of 4.25% in this year, I think that the dividends of ASM2 and ASM3 would be at least 4%.
Nonetheless, we would have to wait till the declaration of dividend at the end of this month (ASM2) and end of September (ASM3) to know for sure.
I am hoping for a 4% dividend too. Otherwise, perhaps it is time for me to look for an alternative.
Author
Hi, Richard.
The dividend of ASM2 is 4%. I believe it is a good news for you too.
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