KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has announced a higher dividend rate of 5.50 per cent for conventional savings for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), compared to 5.35 per cent in FY2022, resulting in a total payout of RM50.33 billion.

Additionally, the dividend rate for Shariah savings also increased to 5.40 per cent from 4.75 per cent recorded in FY2022, culminating in a total payout of RM7.48 billion.

This brings the combined total payout for FY2023 to RM57.81 billion.

“The RM57.81 billion dividend distribution will benefit more than 16 million EPF members, encompassing individuals from both the formal and informal sectors,” it said in a statement today.

For FY2023, the retirement savings fund recorded a total investment income of RM66.99 billion, a 29 per cent increase from RM51.91 billion in 2022.

“Out of the RM66.99 billion in total investment income, RM5.72 billion were generated from mark-to-market (MTM) gains of securities that have not been realised and will not be part of the dividend distribution.

“It has been the EPF’s prudent practice of paying dividends only out of realised income,” it said.

EPF said its investment assets continued to record strong growth at RM1.135 trillion in 2023, an increase of 13 per cent from RM1.0 trillion in FY2022.

“The increase comprised income from the portfolio and healthy collection of contributions of RM97.56 billion in 2023, an increase of 15 per cent from RM84.78 billion in FY2022,” it said.

Chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir said after netting off the inflation rate, the real dividend for conventional savings was 2.89 per cent and 2.51 per cent for Shariah savings on a rolling three-year basis (2021-2023), exceeding the EPF’s strategic target of at least 2.0 per cent real dividend over the same period.

He said despite the intensifying geopolitical tensions, elevated interest rates, inflation, regional conflicts, and China’s property sector woes, the global economy showed resilience and fared better than expected.

“Alhamdulillah, the EPF is able to deliver improved dividends following a resilient performance in 2023, with equities playing a significant role in driving overall performance,” he said.

The global equities market experienced a varied performance last year, particularly between the Asean and developed markets.

While developed markets’ equity benchmark indices exhibited positive growth, both the Bursa Malaysia benchmark index FBM KLCI and Asean indices recorded negative growth, with the FBM KLCI declining by 2.7 per cent.

Nonetheless, Ahmad Badri said EPF’s strategic asset allocation (SAA), coupled with active portfolio management enabled it to achieve positive results for 2023.

Moving forward, he said the EPF’s resilient investment approach and unwavering focus on long-term value creation should set the path for it to continue to deliver strong performance and uphold its commitment to its members. — Bernama