‘Don’t compare EPF dividends with a decade ago’

KUALA LUMPUR: The Emplyees Provident Fund (EPF) declared a dividend of 5.45% for Simpanan Konvensional and 5% for Simpanan Shariah for the year 2019. This will involve a payout of RM41.68 billion and RM4.14 billion.

EPF chief Alizakri Alias added EPF contributors should not compare the dividends announced for 2019 with the payouts 10 years ago as the current environment has changed.

“Last year there was the trade war, Brexit and demonstrations in Hong Kong. This year, there is Covid19,” he said.

In terms of stock market performance, EPF had earned higher returns than other equity fund managers, he revealed.

“Hence, due consideration must be given to how we performed against our peers in terms of asset class, quality of assets, stocks, as well as their median performance last year – they earned a 3% return while EPF earned more than 7%. From that perspective, EPF has done its best.”

With Covid-19 possibly causing a slowdown in global economic growth, Alizakri said the people can expect 2020 to be more challenging for the EPF.

Alizakri said the US-China trade war, which has not shown any signs of abating, is among the risks for the recovery of other economies.

He emphasised investment funds such as EPF should not be hasty in their decisions.

“We are careful and conservative in our decisions since this is a retirement fund, which prevents us from taking a high-risk approach. Our decisions are backed by strong reasoning and research.”