KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 31): Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd, the wholly-owned unit trust company of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), has declared an income distribution of 4.50 sen per unit for its fixed price fund, Amanah Saham Malaysia 2 - Wawasan (ASM 2 Wawasan), for the financial year ending Aug 31, 2023 (FY2023).

This compares with previous income distributions of  3.75 sen for FY2022, 4.0% for both FY2021 and FY2020, and 5% for FY2019.

The 4.50% return is also higher by 161 basis points, compared with the fund's benchmark Maybank 12-month fixed deposit return of 2.89% for the same period, noted Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) in a statement on Thursday.

"ASM 2 Wawasan declared a total income distribution payout of RM1.04 billion, benefitting 914,008 unit holders," the statement said, adding that as of Aug 29, 2023, the fund earned a total gross income of RM1.08 billion and recorded a net realised income of RM810.23 million.

The income for ASM 2 Wawasan, formerly known as Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020, is derived from capital gains, dividend income, as well as other income from domestic and international investments.  

Income from equities remains a major contributor, as international and domestic investment contributed 29.2% and 55.7% respectively to the fund’s gross income.

"The fund has also benefitted from the diversification of the portfolios into other asset classes, particularly real estate and private equity, which represent 10% of the total NAV (net asset value)," said PNB.