KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), is looking to increase its assets under management to RM300 billion within the next five years.

To achieve the target, ASNB chief executive officer and executive director Mohammad Hussin said the unit trust fund is currently expanding its public engagement activities to promote retail investors to sign up for its funds.

Mohammad said ASNB will be hosting an infotainment-based investment carnival named 'Fiesta Labur PNB' at the Putrajaya International Convention Center (PICC) from Sept 28 to Oct 1.

ASNB aims to attract 5,000 to 6,000 new unit trust sign-ups, as it expects visitor turnout of about 15,000 people at the carnival.

The fiesta will feature a range of activities, including financial literacy programmes and personal finance workshops such as 'Master Your Personal Finance' and Kuiz Pelaburan PNB.

Besides that, there will be some 50 retail outlets and exhibition booths to be opened by ASNB agents, uniform bodies, and small-to-medium business owners.

"Through Fiesta Labur PNB, ASNB wishes to educate the public on the advantages of investing and to share basic fundamentals of investment such as the Power of Compounding and Rule of 72, so that visitors understand that investment is not complicated," Mohammad told a media briefing on the carnival.

"We have also chosen to do this in a relaxed and fun fiesta setting so they would easily remember the tips and new investment knowledge gathered at the venue," he added.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani will launch the event as well as ASNB's new online portal, MyASNB, which is expected to go live nationwide at the launching.

ASNB had a total of 12 funds with a combined value of RM207.4 billion as at December 2016.