More than 1.4b AS1M units sold

More than 1.4 billion units of the new unit trust fund Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) were subscribed within two days of its launch.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said the take-up rate was within expectations, given the fund size and the minimum subscription limit of 50,000 for those below 55 years old and 100,000 units limit for those above 55.

AS1M is a 10 billion-unit fixed price fund of RM1 per unit, with features similar to that of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) and Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM).

“We will be adopting similar strategies for AS1M as with ASW 2020 and ASM and we hope for AS1M to perform as well as the other two funds which have exceeded their benchmark,” Hamad Kama Piah said in a statement yesterday.

He said ASW 2020 had declared annual income distribution ranging from 6.6 per cent and 8.8 per cent, while ASM has consistently paid out income distribution ranging from 6.25 per cent and 7.8 per cent.

Both ASW 2020 and ASM are benchmarked against the three-month Klibor, which has been averaging at 3.07 per cent for the past 10 years.

AS1M, meanwhile, is benchmarked against the average five-year Malaysian Government Securities, which now yields about 3.72 per cent.

This year, PNB has opened for subscription an additional two billion units of ASW 2020, 3.33 billion units of ASM and 10 billion units of AS1M.

“We would like to ensure the success of all our existing funds before we decide on other funds’ expansion,” Hamad Kama Piah said.

(From Business Times 2009/08/08)