It announced a dividend rate of 6.10% for conventional savings and 5.65% for shariah savings today.
The 2021 dividend, in fact, is higher than 2020’s rate of 5.2% (conventional) and 4.9% (shariah) and the 5.45% (conventional) and 5% (shariah) dividend declared in pre-pandemic 2019.
It will pay out a total of RM56.72 billion for 2021, with RM50.45 billion for conventional savings and RM6.27 billion for shariah savings.
The bad news is that 48% of EPF members now have less than RM10,000 in their accounts after being allowed to withdraw from the fund to tide over the Covid-19 pandemic.
EPF chairman Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir said: “With an average three-year real dividend after adjusting for inflation of 4.91% for conventional savings and 4.51% for shariah savings, the EPF had surpassed its strategic target of declaring an average real dividend of at least 2% on a rolling three-year basis.”
Members can check their accounts via i-Akaun or get their statement from EPF kiosks nationwide after March 6.
Given the recovering economy, he said EPF would increase investments in 2022, especially in the domestic financial market so as to catalyse economic activity and assist in the ongoing economic recovery.
Commenting on the performance, Badri noted: “The RM101 billion pandemic-related withdrawals since the year 2020 had resulted in 48% of EPF members having less than RM10,000 in their accounts.
“We hope that this dividend and our continued performance will help us begin the process of rebuilding our members’ retirement savings, as economic recovery takes shape over the course of the year.”
For 2021, therefore, the EPF recorded its first ever negative net contribution (contributions after withdrawals) in 20 years of RM58.2 billion.
As at Dec 31, 2021, the EPF recorded an increase of 6% in total gross investment income to RM67.06 billion from RM63.45 billion in 2020.
Badri said the EPF had rebalanced and managed its investment portfolios by acquiring shares that were fundamentally strong at attractive prices, as well as capitalising on its overseas investments, which contributed 56% to its overall returns.
“The performance was attributed to the EPF’s diversification approach as guided by its Strategic Asset Allocation, which has kept the fund resilient to financial shocks and remain stable in unprecedented situations. By asset class, fixed income instruments made up 45% of investments, while equities comprised 44%. Real estate and infrastructure as well as money market instruments made up 6% and 5% of EPF assets, respectively.”
Equities, particularly foreign listed equities, which recorded a return on investment of 10.44%, continued to be the driver of returns. Total income contributed by the equity asset class was RM38.93 billion, or 58% of the EPF’s total gross income.
The EPF’s overseas assets were critical contributors to its overall performance, with 37% of EPF’s investment assets parked outside Malaysia as at December 2021.
He said overall investment assets grew 0.8% to RM1.01 trillion from RM1 trillion in 2020.
Membership grew by 2% to 15.2 million, while employers registered with the EPF stood at 553,000 at the end of last year.
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