EPF: 2021 dividend depends on market performance, vaccine rollout, immunity
KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) dividend for 2021 would depend on market performance, Covid-19 vaccine rollout as well as global Covid-19 immunity, said its chief executive officer Tunku Alizakri Alias.
EPF yesterday declared a dividend of 5.2 per cent for conventional savings, and 4.90 per cent for shariah savings, for fiscal 2020. The dividends were slightly lower than the 5.4 per cent for conventional savings and five per cent for shariah accounts declared in 2019.
“It is too early to forecast the dividend for 2021 as it is only the beginning of the year.We need to see how it performs for the rest of the year.Market conditions are currently uncertain,” he said during a virtual question-andanswer session on EPF’s 2020 financial performance yesterday.
EPF chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir said the vaccine rollout in 2021 would have important bearings on the outlook for the year.
“We are also cognisant of new strains of Covid-19 that are easily
It is too early to forecast the dividend for 2021 as it is only the beginning of the year.We need to see how it performs for the rest of the year.Market conditions are currently uncertain. — Tunku Alizakri Alias, EPF chief executive officer
transmitted.
“However, we believe that the situation is being well managed, with governments everywhere ensuring that the vaccines would reach the people as efficiently as possible, while in Malaysia, the first batch of vaccines has arrived and will soon be administered to the population,” he said.
He also said EPF, a 70-year“They old institution and one of the oldest pension funds in the world, would remain focused on its mandate to help members have enough savings for a sustainable retirement.
“We will also embark on a new withdrawal scheme to allow members to purchase insurance or takaful products that was announced in Budget 2021, slated for an end-of-year rollout,” he disclosed.
Meanwhile, in response to a question on the tiered dividend scheme, Alizakri said: “It has a complex structure as compared to the current scheme which offers the same dividend for all members. EPF has to touch base with members on the idea of tiered dividend and they will have a say in the dividend policy going forward.”
Alizakri, whose service as EPF chief executive officer ended yesterday, would be replaced by Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan – effective this March 1.