Rightways: November 2017

Thursday, November 30, 2017

EPF investment income rises 5.13% in Q3 to RM12.95 bil, has benefited from overseas equities

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) reports an increase in quarterly investment income to RM12.95 billion for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (Q3 2017), despite recorded net impairment of RM791.55mil in the third quarter, more than double the impairment made a year earlier. The EPF posted a 74% surge in investment income to RM11.8bil in the first quarter and a 36.6% growth to RM11.51bil in the second quarter.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) today reported an increase in quarterly investment income to RM12.95 billion for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (Q3 2017), up 5.13 per cent, from RM12.32 billion recorded during the same period last year.

“The EPF’s overall portfolio performance has benefited from the rally in overseas equities markets in the third quarter of 2017,” Investment Performance, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Investment) Datuk Mohamad Nasir Ab Latif said today.

He said the pension fund did not see similar returns from the domestic equities market as the FBM KLCI performance was flat compared with other markets, which recorded between two and five per cent growth.

The EPF recorded a net impairment of RM791.55 million, in the quarter under review, in accordance with the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS 139), and this was higher compared with RM349.59 million recorded in the same quarter last year, he said in a statement today.

This is due to the higher provision recorded for domestic equities in the telecommunications and oil and gas sectors.

In the third quarter of 2017, equities, which made up 41.86 per cent of EPF’s total investment assets, contributed RM7.91 billion of income or 61.09 per cent of the total investment income.

The income recorded was 12.75 per cent higher than RM7.02 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter in 2016, he said.

As at September 2017, a total of 50.45 per cent of EPF’s investment assets were in fixed income instruments which recorded an income of RM4.49 billion, equivalent to 34.63 per cent of the total quarterly investment income, said Mohamad Nasir.

Out of the RM4.49 billion, Malaysian Government Securities & Equivalent recorded RM2.17 billion in the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 10.96 per cent or RM213.98 million, from RM1.95 billion recorded in the same quarter in 2016, in line with the growth of the portfolio.

Loans and bonds, however, generated lower investment income of RM2.32 billion compared with RM2.56 billion in the same quarter last year, he said.

Investments in Money Market Instruments and Real Estate and Infrastructure each represented 3.53 per cent and 4.16 per cent of total investment assets, and contributed an investment income of RM274.27 million and RM263.83 million, respectively, in the third quarter of 2017.

“Our current investment in money market instruments is above the targeted three per cent under the Strategic Asset Allocation due to the ongoing regulatory restrictions in new overseas investments.

Over the long-run, the EPF must continue to expand our foreign assets portfolio as it is key to our diversification and allows us to meet our return targets,” said Mohamad Nasir.

As at Sept 30, 2017, the EPF’s overseas investments, which accounted for 30 per cent of its total investment asset, contributed 48 per cent to the total investment income during the quarter.

Diversification into different asset classes in various countries and currencies had helped the EPF to record higher income for the quarter, despite a significant difference in market performance, globally.

Out of the total RM12.95 billion investment income for the third quarter of 2017, a total of RM860.83 million was allocated for Simpanan Shariah, which derived its income solely from its portion in Shariah assets, while RM12.09 billion income was allocated for Simpanan Konvensional, which is generated by its share of both Shariah and non-Shariah assets, he said.

The value of EPF investment assets reached RM771.20 billion, a 5.48 per cent or RM40.09 billion increase from RM731.11 billion, as at Dec 31, 2016.

Out of the total investment assets, RM370.10 billion or 48 per cent, were in Shariah-compliant investments and the balance in non-Shariah assets.

“We still have one more quarter before the year-end and we are confident that our diversification into various asset classes will enable us to meet our real dividend target of at least two per cent above inflation over a three-year rolling period, for both Simpanan Shariah and Simpanan Konvensional,” he added.

The EPF posted a 74% surge in investment income to RM11.8bil in the first quarter and a 36.6% growth to RM11.51bil in the second quarter.

Source: BERNAMA

Related Links:

Highest EPF dividend in two decades - Nation

EPF announces 6.9% dividend for conventional savings, 6.4% for shariah savings

EPF's investment income rises 5.13% in Q3 - Business News

EPF investment income rises 5.13% in Q3 to RM12.95 bil, has benefited from overseas equities

The EPF posted a 74% surge in investment income to RM11.8bil in the first quarter and a 36.6% growth to RM11.51bil in the second quarter.

Source: BERNAMA

Related Links:

Highest EPF dividend in two decades - Nation

EPF's investment income rises 5.13% in Q3 - Business News

Monday, November 27, 2017

Chinese are the unsung heroes of South East Asia, Robert Kuok Memoirs

https://youtu.be/oU0tz-3Uzeg

They are the most amazing economic ants on Earth, ‘Sugar King’ writes in memoir

Good Chinese business management is second to none; the very best of Chinese management is without compare. I haven’t seen others come near to it in my 70year career. Robert Kuok

The overseas Chinese were the unsung heroes of the region, having helped to build South East Asia to what it is today, said Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok (pic).

He said that it was the Chinese immigrants who tackled difficult task such as planting and tapping rubber, opening up tin mines, and ran small retail shops which eventually created a new economy around them.

"It was the Chinese who helped build up Southeast Asia. The Indians also played a big role, but the Chinese were the dominant force in helping to build the economy.

"They came very hungry and eager as immigrants, often barefooted and wearing only singlets and trousers. They would do any work available, as an honest income meant they could have food and shelter.

"I will concede that if they are totally penniless, they will do almost anything to get their first seed capital. But once they have some capital, they try very hard to rise above their past and advance their reputations as totally moral, ethical businessmen," Kuok said based on excerpts of his memoir reported in the South China Morning Post .

“Robert Kuok, A Memoir’ is set to be released in Malaysia on Dec 1.

Kuok said the Chinese immigrants were willing to work harder than anyone else and were willing to "eat bitterness", hence, were the most amazing economic ants on earth.

In the extracted memoir published by the South China Morning Post, Kuok, pointed out that if there were any businesses to be done on earth, one can be sure that a Chinese will be there.

"They will know whom to see, what to order, how best to save, how to make money. They don’t need expensive equipment or the trappings of office; they just deliver.

"I can tell you that Chinese businessmen compare notes every waking moment of their lives. There are no true weekends or holidays for them. That’s how they work. Every moment, they are listening, and they have skilfully developed in their own minds – each and every one of them – mental sieves to filter out rubbish and let through valuable information.

"Good Chinese business management is second to none; the very best of Chinese management is without compare. I haven’t seen others come near to it in my 70-year career," he said.

"They flourish without the national, political and financial sponsorship or backing of their host countries. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese are often maltreated and looked down upon. Whether you go to Malaysia, Sumatra or Java, the locals call you Cina – pronounced Chee-na – in a derogatory way," he said.

He added that the Chinese had no "fairy godmothers" financial backers.

"Yet, despite facing these odds, the overseas Chinese, through hard work, endeavour and business shrewdness, are able to produce profits of a type that no other ethnic group operating in the same environment could produce," he said.

Kuok ultimately attributed the Chinese survivability in Southeast Asia to its cultural strength.

"They knew what was right and what was wrong. Even the most uneducated Chinese, through family education, upbringing and social environment, understands the ingredients and consequences of behaviour such as refinement, humility, understatement, coarseness, bragging and arrogance," he said.

Related Links:

My mother and Mao, Singapore taxes and the rise of Hong Kong ...

In the debut instalment of six extracts from the first-ever memoir of Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, reproduced exclusively here, he recalls how ..

Malaysian train on wrong track, says tycoon Kuok in memoir | The ...

TYCOON Robert Kuok has released his autobiography in Hong Kong and ... (SCMP), which Kuok once owned, released excerpts of his memoir today. ... said he had known all of Malaysia's six prime ministers and shared how he ... Kuok, who is also ranked Malaysia's richest man, said first prime minister ...

They are the most amazing economic ants on Earth, ‘Sugar King’ writes in memoir

My mother and Mao, Singapore taxes and the rise of Hong Kong ...

In the debut instalment of six extracts from the first-ever memoir of Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, reproduced exclusively here, he recalls how ..

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Thursday, November 30, 2017

1 Malaysian Ringgit equalsvv0.24 US Dollar

1 Malaysian Ringgit equalsvv0.24 US Dollar

Monday, November 27, 2017

They are the most amazing economic ants on Earth, ‘Sugar King’ writes in memoir

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They are the most amazing economic ants on Earth, ‘Sugar King’ writes in memoir

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