BATU PAHAT: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), which was set up 40 years ago, has become a well-established institution yesterday.
“In fact, the impact from the establishment of PNB is felt worldwide,” he said at the launch of the Malaysian Trust Fund Week 2018 (MSAM 2018) at Batu Pahat Stadium yesterday.
The prime minister cited PNB’s property development activities in the United Kingdom (UK) as an example.
“In the past the Malaysian economy was controlled by colonists, but today we are able to become among the largest investors in the UK. This is an achievement,” he said.
The week-long MSAM programme is an annual PNB event that has been held since 2000 and attracted over 3.6 million visitors. Also present were Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin, PNB Group chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar and PNB president/group chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad.
He said apart from its management efficiency, PNB’s success was also closely linked to the country’s economic development brought by the government through pragmatic policies that drove growth.
“Pragmatic (government) policies drive (growth),” Najib said.
Najib also thanked PNB for the payment of a dividend of seven sen per unit and a bonus of 0.25 sen per unit for the Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) fund for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2017.
PNB also announced a special 40th anniversary bonus of one sen per unit for the first 10,000 units held by ASB unit holders for the financial year.
The total distribution of RM10.7 billion will benefit 9.1 million unit holders with over 145.6 billion units in ASB.
At the event, Najib also launched the myASNB portal (www.myasb.com.my) which would enable unit holders to carry out investment activities, including subscribing to Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd’s unit trusts, anywhere without having to go to a service counter. Unit holders can also check their accounts, view investment balances, print electronic statements, and update personal information.
Earlier, Abdul Wahid said, PNB was the nation’s largest fund management company with funds totalling about RM200 billion through investments by 13.4 million unit holders in various ASNB trust funds.
PNB distributed dividend and bonus amounting to RM14.6 billion last year and had paid out RM1.88 billion as of March 2018. — Bernama