In Malaysia, ASB (short of Amanah Saham Bumiputera) is one of the hottest unit trust products in Malaysia. People like ASB because of the product’s ease of understanding and ease of getting your money in and getting your money out. The returns on average are fairly alright. Way over any fixed deposit rates in Malaysia. ASB is one of the products offered by PNB (short for Permodalan Nasional Berhad), a Malaysian Asset Management company.
Here are some features of ASB:
1. Capital guaranteed.
2. ASB is only for the Bumiputeras.
3. Low-Risk.
4. Your money is invested by the fund manager in equities, debentures, bank acceptances, negotiable certificates of deposits and other negotiable instruments approved by Bank Negara Malaysia.
5. Type of returns = Income Distribution.
6. Income distribution will be reinvested into you account as new units.
7. The amount of money you can invest is capped at RM200,000 but the balance of your investment can be of any amount.
8. Price of a single unit is RM1.00. This is the price that you will buy the unit at and the price you will sell the unit.
9. ASB transactions can be conducted not only at PNB offices but also at a number of banks and post offices.
10. According to the master prospectus, the income that you get is exempted from tax.
The returns for ASB for the year 2007 which is distributed as an income was 7.3%.
For most people, this is a good place to start their investment journey.
Before investing in ASB, do check out this website that talks about ASB according to shariah. Also, check the latest news on Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan Malaysia who deemed ASB as HARUS here.
P.S. I myself don’t invest in ASB.
~~~LATEST UPDATE ON THE HUKUM OF Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) HERE~~~~