All 980m ASW 2020 units for non-bumis taken up

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JOHOR BAHRU: All the 980 million Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) units for non-bumiputeras, from the total two billion units allocated under the fund, were fully taken up by 11.50am on April 27.

The ASW 2020 units went on sale at 8am on April 27 at Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) offices and Pos Malaysia offices nationwide, and at 9.15am at ASNB agents Maybank, CIMB Bank and RHB Bank.

The latest ASW 2020 offer was based on a quota of 51% for bumiputeras and 49% for non-bumiputeras.

“The response this time around was even better,” Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman told reporters after the closing ceremony for Malaysia Unit Trust Week 2009 here on April 27.

Interested subscribers were seen lining up at the main ASNB counter in Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur as early as 4am.

It was the same scene at ASNB’s office in Kuching, Sarawak, and the venue of the unit trust week here.

On the possibility of PNB increasing the size of ASW 2020, Hamad Kama Piah said: “For now, we will see first. We need to focus on ensuring that each investment brings in good returns. That is the reason why we want to balance up our portfolio and ensure the optimisation of the portfolios.”

ASW 2020 is a fixed-price unit trust fund opened to all Malaysians aged six months and above.

It was first launched in August 1996 with a fund size of three billion units. Its current size stands at 12.42 billion units.

Meanwhile, PNB chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, in his speech, said that as at March 31, 87% of PNB unit trust fund holders had less than 10,000 units. — Bernama
 

Source: The Edge Malaysia 28 April 2009