The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced a dividend of 5.35 per cent for Conventional Savings and 4.75 per cent for Shariah Savings for the year 2022, today (Mac 4).
The total pay-out for Conventional Savings amounts to RM45.44bil as well as a 4.75% for Syariah Savings which totals RM5.7bil for 2022. In total, the retirement fund’s pay out for last year amounts to RM51.14bil.
EPF previously announced a dividend rate of 6.10 per cent for Conventional Savings, with a total distribution of RM50.45 billion; and 5.65 per cent for Shariah Savings, with a total distribution of RM6.27 billion, bringing the total accumulated distribution for 2021 to RM56.72 billion.
Over the past 10 years, EPF had paid out conventional savings at 5.8% in 2010 followed by 6% (2011), 6.15% (2012), 6.35% (2013), 6.75% (2014), 6.4% (2015), 5.7% (2016), 6.9% (2017), 6.15% (2018), 5.45% (2019) and 5.2% (2020). For Syariah Savings, it recorded dividends of 6.4% in 2017, 5.9% (2018), 5% (2019) and 4.9% (2020).
EPF also recorded lower total gross investment income of RM55.33 billion in 2022, down 19.7% from RM68.89 billion in 2021, driven by high market volatility and lower valuations across equity and fixed income markets.
The dividend rate was announced by Malaysia’s Largest Retirement Fund (EPF) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan at the EPF’s financial performance briefing in Kuala Lumpur today.
Amir Hamzah said, despite the ongoing global market recession in 2022, the EPF’s investment portfolio remains resilient in facing the challenges of this recession with minimal impact, adding, this is largely driven by a strategy that emphasises long-term sustainability of investments and returns, in line with EPF’s Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA).
“The EPF’s diversified portfolio and healthy liquidity help reduce risk and enable the fund to maintain its investment assets above RM1 trillion and declare a good dividend rate for 2022. This payment of RM51.14 billion will benefit more than 15 million EPF members, including members from the informal sector who are registered with i-Saraan, which is an incentive-based voluntary contribution program.
“We believe this dividend as well as the continued strengthening of the EPF’s performance will benefit members’ retirement savings, especially when viewed from a long-term perspective. Despite the challenging economic conditions, we will continue to prioritise the long-term success of our investment portfolio and rebuild the retirement savings of our members,” he said.
The 2022 financial year saw slower global growth and higher inflation rates, coupled with monetary policy tightening by major central banks to curb inflationary pressures.
The fixed income market also failed to perform well when the bond index recorded a negative return for the same year, largely due to high bond yields following the continued increase in interest rates by the United States (US) Federal Reserve.
Geopolitical instability is also a major factor influencing market movements, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine having sent commodity prices soaring, coupled with unrest between the US and China, Amir Hamzah added.
