Small group controls half of RM207b ASNB units

Some 4.2 percent of Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) unit trust holders control nearly half (47.6 percent) of the RM207.4 billion net asset value (NAV) as of Sept 30.

According to a Finance Ministry parliamentary written reply, the 4.2 percent were those who held between 100,001 and 500,000 units.

Those who fall within this band own a total of RM103.1 billion worth of units.

The written reply does not explain if investors who hold between 100,001 and 500,000 units were individuals or institutional investors.

In contrast, those who own less than 1,000 units, which forms the bulk of fund unitholders (61 percent), have a combined value of only RM1.685 billion in units (0.8 percent of NAV).

Those with more than 500,001 units (0.3 percent) owned RM34.8 billion worth of funds (16 percent of NAV).

ASNB is a scheme devised in the 1970s and managed by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), which was set up by the federal government as part of the New Economic Policy to address the economic imbalance in Malaysia.

PNB currently manages 12 ASNB funds, of which five (ASD, ASB, ASB2, ASN and ASN2) are exclusive to the bumiputera. The written reply did not indicate the total value of these five funds.

The reply was responding to questions by Jasin MP Ahmad Hamzah, who sought the ethnic breakdown of fundholders for ASNB funds and a breakdown of fund ownership based on the number of units held, according to seven bands.

Data provided by the written reply showed that the bumiputera community makes up the vast majority of ASNB unitholders.

However, the reply does not allow for the tabulation of the total number of fund owners because fund owners could invest in more than one fund.

The seven remaining funds appear to suggest that the number of fund holders does not reflect the intended racial quotas.

For example, the ASW (Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020) was launched in 1996 and the units were supposed to be sold with a quota of 51 percent bumiputera and 49 percent others.

As of Sept 30, bumiputera amount to only 39 percent of fund holders, according to the Finance Ministry.

Even recently launched funds such as the AS1M (Amanah Saham 1Malaysia, launched in 2009) had only 45 percent bumiputera subscribers, instead of the intended 50 percent based on the initial quota.