i went to PNB Putrajaya Branch just now, not many customers, many customers are Malays, most of them carrying blue and purple books doing other transactions like ASN/ASB/ASD, not even one of them opening AS1M. Dont think the response is good

I will not invest in AS1M, just stick to ASW and ASM.

1% service charge after promotional period??? just a sales strategy, to create an excitment for kiasu non-bumi to grasp.

Got to know from my friend that working in the bank, the available unit still got a lot, if PNB unable to sell the remaining rm7Bil (Bumi + indians') by end of the promotional period, i dont think they will charge 1%, otherwise, they will have more difficulty to sell. i believe by then 1% sales charge will be waived.

Another point is if this AS1M is majority held by non-bumi, dont think it will perform as good as other PNB's 100% (like ASB) or 51% (like ASW) bumi-owned funds. That's why it is only benchmark against 5 years bond rate of 3.75%. It maybe too early to judge, but will see after 1 year.

Thus in my opinion, for those have extra cash in FD, still worth to withdraw and to invest in AS1M, as many believe the dividen will be better than FD, if u have stocks/other UT/EPF on hand now, it is worthless to sell these investments to invest in AS1M, as i think stocks/variable price UT will perform better in the long run.

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 7 2009, 04:46 PM

More Than 1.4 Billion AS1Malaysia Units Sold August 07, 2009 19:50 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) received strong support from the investing public with more than 1.4 billion units taken up within two days of its launch.
"The take-up rate is within our expectation with a fund this size and a minimum subscription limit of 50,000 for those below 55 years and 100,000 units limit for those above 55 years," said Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman in a statement Friday.

AS1M is a 10 billion fixed price fund of RM1 each with features similar to that of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) and Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM)."We will be adopting similar strategies for AS1Malaysia as with ASW 2020 and ASM and we hope for AS1M to perform as well as the other two funds which have exceeded their benchmark," said Hamad.

According to Hamad, the ASW 2020 and ASM are benchmarked against the 3-month KLibor, which has been averaging at 3.07 percent for the past 10 years. He said AS1Malaysia, meanwhile, is benchmarked against the average 5-year MGS which now yields about 3.72 percent. "Since 2000, ASW 2020 has declared income distribution every year ranging from 6.60 percent and 8.80 percent, while the KLibor (distribution) has been ranging between 2.50 percent and 3.60 percent. ASM meanwhile has consistently paid out income distribution ranging from 6.25 per cent and 7.80 per cent," he said.

In 2008 for instance, ASW 2020 declared 7.00 sen and ASM declared 7.80 sen when the benchmark KLibor was hovering at 3.60 percent.
The selling and buying price of AS1M is fixed at RM1. Unitholders, therefore, can purchase or redeem the AS1M units at RM1 per unit at all times, said Hamad.

Redemption however could only be done after the 30 day offer period, he added.

Since units of AS1M is fixed at RM1 at all times, it is not defined as a "capital guaranteed fund" because by definition of the Guidelines on Unit Trust Funds, a "capital guaranteed fund" would guarantee investors the capital invested only if units are held until maturity, explained PNB.

Fixed price fund meanwhile does not have a maturity date, and therefore its unit is fixed at RM1.

--BERNAMA

Bernama link is at http://bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=431100

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 8 2009, 08:19 AM

As indicated from my previous post on Bernama News, as at Friday closing, (3 days after launching), only 1.4 Bil was sold, out of 10bil available units.

Assuming 30% quota allocated for chinese, and assuming all 1.4bil sold are subscribed by Chinese, then there are still 1.6 Bil units (3.0bil chinese quota minus 1.4bil sold unit) available for sales. So plenty of units still available.

PNB has advertised full page in all major CHINESE newspapers for the last 2 days (saturday and today Sunday) to encourage chinese to buy AS1M,
i guess if u r a chinese, u can buy 2 rounds, 1st round during the promotional period, and 2nd round after the other race's quota is released, i.e. after 3rd September. PNB is making every effort to sell AS1M, which it has never done b4, their previous funds ASM/ASW being sold like hot cakes without any spending on advertisment.

Think the post office staff is not telling the truth....

---

Added on August 9, 2009, 8:05 pmSam, u can buy the units thru PNB agents, CIMB, Maybank, RHB Bank, Post office.

Nobody can tell u ASM or ASW2020 still available or not, as far as i concern, all non-bumi quotas are fully taken up, unless someone sold the units, then u can take up the available units. Many agent/banks dont allow to check the availability over the phone, so u need to bring your passbook & cash to the bank to ask if any units available at that point of time. Must try and error, so good luck on trying.

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 9 2009, 08:05 PM

You could be right, there are many investors that have close realtionship with banks, they will ask the bank tellers to be alert and check the PNB fund system from time to time, as long as there is unit available they will grasp the available units. For your mom case, in order to be sure u can get the sold units from yoru mom, the transaction of transferring from your mom account to your accounts need to do it at the same time, it must be fast enough not to be taken up by others. I do not think they have so called "waiting list" things, if they tell u so, pls get a "black and white " from them and u can use the "black and white" to double confirm with PNB head office. It is unfair for those walk in customers that willing to buy and not fall under the so called "VIP waiting list".

You need to read the AS1M profile before buying it, it is fixed at RM1/unit like other fixed price products of PNB like ASW/ASM/ASD/ASB, since your mom is holding ASM, have u ever seen this fund fall below RM1? AS Sabah is a variable price fund, so it fulatuates in accordance to market performance.

---

Added on August 10, 2009, 10:17 amThere are some funds that PNB want to keep ONLY for bumi, ASW2020 is one of them, even they are not fully sold they still want to keep for the BUMI investors for their future investment. That is why they come up with AS1M for other races to buy.

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 10 2009, 10:17 AM

ASM: Jangan jual kuota bumifrom Utusan Melaysia

ainul.ahsan@utusan.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR 12 Julai - Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) didesak supaya tidak mengambil jalan singkat menjual unit Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) kuota bumiputera yang masih gagal dilanggani kepada pelabur bukan bumiputera. Tindakan itu bukan hanya tidak membantu penyertaan bumiputera dalam industri unit amanah saham tetapi bakal meluaskan lagi jurang pemilikan ekuiti kaum bumiputera dengan kaum-kaum lain di negara ini. Sebaliknya, PNB disaran lebih kreatif termasuk menggunakan pengaruh 'paksaan' bagi menarik penyertaan bumiputera melanggan unit-unit yang ditawarkan.

Pakar ekonomi, Dr. Hamzaid Yahya mempersoalkan tindakan PNB itu sambil mendakwa tindakan itu sudah menyimpang daripada matlamat asal penubuhan firma pelaburan terkemuka itu. Menurut beliau, PNB ditubuhkan di bawah Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB) dengan tujuan untuk meningkatkan pemilikan ekuiti bumiputera dan meskipun DEB sudah tiada tetapi rohnya masih kuat khususnya bagi kaum Melayu.

''Cadangan PNB ini bukan sahaja tidak membantu tetapi melebarkan lagi jurang pemilikan ekuiti kaum Melayu dengan kaum-kaum lain.
''Saya tidak nampak PNB akan mengalami kerugian sekiranya kuota ASM untuk bumiputera masih gagal dihabiskan. ''Dan, situasi ini juga menunjukkan PNB masih belum cukup berjaya untuk menarik penyertaan kaum bumiputera melabur,'' katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika mengulas kenyataan Presiden dan Ketua Eksekutif PNB, Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman kelmarin bahawa PNB akan menjual kuota bumiputera bagi unit ASM kepada kaum lain sekiranya dana itu masih tidak mendapat sambutan di kalangan bumiputera.

ASM yang mempunyai saiz dana 3.3 bilion unit menyaksikan kuota kaum Cina habis dilanggan sepenuhnya manakala kuota India pula semakin hampir dilanggani sepenuhnya. Hamzaid bimbang sekiranya kuota unit ASM itu mula dibuka kepada semua, tidak mustahil pendekatan yang sama akan digunapakai kepada unit-unit amanah lain juga. Hamad Kama Piah juga berkata, selain ASM, terdapat dana lain seperti unit Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020, Amanah Saham Didik, Amanah Saham Nasional dan Amanah Saham Nasional 2 yang masih lagi belum habis dilanggani bumiputera.

Bekas Presiden Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur (kini Bursa Malaysia), Datuk Salleh Majid yang tidak menyetujui langsung langkah itu, berkata PNB tidak seharusnya ketandusan idea untuk menarik penyertaan bumiputera melanggan unit-unit amanah yang dijualnya. Jelasnya, sebagai sebuah firma yang gah, PNB tidak boleh sekadar menjual produk tetapi juga perlu mempunyai kepakaran memasarkan produk-produknya khusus kepada golongan bumiputera.

''PNB tidak boleh berterusan mengguna pakai pendekatan yang berhati-hati kerana tindakan seumpama itu tidak membantu meningkatkan kefahaman atau menarik penyertaan kaum bumiputera. ''Sebab itulah, kaum bumiputera masih kurang memahami industri unit amanah dan apabila pemahaman kurang, inilah yang terjadi (kurang penyertaan bumiputera),'' jelas beliau.

Penganalisis ekonomi tempatan, Profesor Madya Dr. Mohd. Noor Yazid juga tidak setuju dengan pendekatan yang bakal diambil PNB kerana dianggap sebagai liberal dan mampu menjejaskan matlamat asal penubuhannya. Katanya, PNB yang kini berusia 30 tahun sepatutnya mengakui hakikat bahawa kaum bumiputera masih lagi terkebelakang dalam aspek kuasa beli kerana bangsa itu bukan pemain utama dalam ekonomi negara.
''Dalam konteks sebagai sebuah negara berbilang bangsa memang menjadi satu keperluan memperuntukan kuota-kuota khusus bagi setiap bangsanya. ''Dan kuota itu perlu dihormati termasuklah dalam konteks isu ini,'' ujar beliau.

Sementara itu, penganalisis ekonomi, Haim Hilman Abdullah pula berpendapat, biarpun masih terdapat dana-dana amanahnya yang lain, cadangan PNB itu seolah-olah meminggirkan kepentingan hak bumiputera. Jelasnya, meskipun tindakan itu baik untuk pertumbuhan ekonomi negara bagi jangka pendek tetapi langkah itu seperti menarik balik keistimewaan orang Melayu.

''Dalam memacu ekonomi negara, memang perlu dasar liberalisasi tetapi sekiranya terlalu liberal dalam semua aspek ekonomi, ia akan memberi ancaman kepada kaum bumiputera sebagai kaum majoriti,'' tambahnya. Haim Hilman berkata, sepatutnya kegagalan PNB menjual apa sahaja produk bagi kuota bumiputera tidak timbul sekiranya PNB mengubah strategi pelaburannya dengan membuka penyertaan kepada entiti yang dikuasai oleh bumiputera. ''Ia tidak setakat kepada Syarikat Milik Kerajaan tetapi juga koperasi, majlis zakat dan pertubuhan milik bumiputera.

''Mungkin dengan cara ini lebih baik daripada tertumpu kepada individu sahaja," katanya.

From : http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y...mi&pg=ek_01.htm

yes all sold out, even bumi quota also sold out. As the 1.6b bumi quota that released to non-bumi already fully taken up.

You have highlighted some good points here.

"Wait and See" probably means

a) they want to see how much dividen pay out for the 1st year, only then decided whether to buy on the 2nd year.
b) Government did not indicate which area/industry they want to invest in from fund generated from AS1M, so after 1 year with the annual report, only we know where the fund investing in. Now noone have clue where the fund will be investing in.
c) since only 1.4bil out of 10bil sold as at last friday, so there are still plenty of opportunity to invest. ASNB calculate dividen from 1st of the month, even if u buy now the dividen only start calculate from 1st of Sept (monthly rest), since there are so many funds still available, better park the fund somewhere to gain daily interest, only buy it end of the month or on 1st of Sept. Then buy the 2nd round -bumi released quota after 3rd sept.

1% charges, even lower than sukuk if only give 5% dividend <----- PNB, knowing chinese is very kiasu type, impose this surcharge after the promotional period, so that those interested will rush to pump in their money b4 the promotional period ended. if response still not good, PNB may waive the 1% charge, i guess.

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 11 2009, 11:41 AM

AS1M Quota for Indian

"KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak today became the first prime minister to make an official visit to Batu Caves since his father Tun Abdul Razak did in 1970. Though their visits to the site best known for its Hindu cave temples and the spectacular Thaipusam festival were separated by nearly forty years, the circumstances that surrounded their visits are in some ways, remarkably similar.

He also announced a few other financial allocations, such as for the Divine Life Society Orphanage and RM15 million in micro credit to help Indian entrepreneurs.

He also pointed out that in the recent Amanah Saham 1Malaysia unit trust scheme by Permodalan Nasional Berhad, the Indian quota was 15 per cent despite making up only 8 per cent of the total population."

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.p...indian-malaysia

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 11 2009, 02:53 PM

SOmebody put this comment in themalaysiainsider website, good analysis of AS1M, can read and think:-

"At this time of market - KLSE@1180 pts. you ask us to invest in shares market (via AS1M). it must be joking.

Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia is only putting money in share market to push all GLC companies, as can be seen when ASM/ASW2020 launch its additional units in April, The market index shoot from 8xx points to current 1180 points. all GLC companies jump. especially CIMB....

We need developments and jobs prospect, not gambling in share market. If our economy is not growing due to the curent financial crisis, then the share market should not used to decorate that our economy is improving and KLSE is up."

Based on the statistic given by PNB chairman, 1.5bil of 1.6bil sold unit are subsribed by chinese, means 94% of AS1M fund are held by chinese as at to date?????

no such thing, PNB cannot declare different dividen for the same fund to different group of people.

i guess what u mean is different dividen to different funds. FYI, A.S.Bumiputera (which is only open for bumi investors) pay average dividen rate of 9% per year since its inception. The 9% is inclusive of bonus, for eg, FYE 31 Dec 2008, it declared 7% dividen +1.75% bonus. This dividen is the highest among all the fixed price products of PNB.

AS1M/ASW/ASM open for all races, so the dividen will be the same to all unit holders, regarless of race, subject to fund performance.

Life_house, i guess not many bankers in this Thread, only investors that may not able to solve your problems.
For your question, u shd call PNB direct, or pay a visit to their nearest PNB branch. The response of the AS1M just so-so, only 16% of the fund was sold (rm1.6Bil against total fund size of rm10bil), they will try every effort to take in funds from any potential investors.

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 13 2009, 01:53 PM

That is also because Bumiputera has many options besides AS1M.

PNB: Over 6 Bln Units Available For Purchase from Bernama.com 10 Jul 2009

"KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- Over six billion units from various funds under Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB)'s Amanah Saham are still available for purchase by Bumiputeras.
PNB president/group chief executive, Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman, said among the funds available for Bumiputera investors included Amanah Saham Wawasan (1.7 billion), Amanah Saham Didik (1.6 billion), Amanah Saham Nasional (921 million), Amanah Saham Nasional 2 (2.2 billion)"

These funds are 100% allocated for Bumi (except for ASW), the common sense will tell u that these funds will perform better than other funds that only have 51% bumi allocation. So this also explain why Bumi is not interested in ASM and also AS1M.

the dividen calculation is based on this formula
[ (the lowest balance of each months/ 12) x % dividen declared]

To maximise the dividen earning and enjoy full month interest, u need to bank in the cash in the 1st day of the month, simultanously dont withdraw any money until the 1st day of the following months.

true, last day of the month or 1st day of the following month also can, already checked with PNB.
Of course if u want to make sure and play safe, bank in on the last day of the month, mana tahu 1st day of the month bank system hang, then kaput lah....

PNB officer called me today, asked me if i am interested to invest in AS1M, she said AS1M still got around RM1bil for chinese quota, those who has not yet invested, still can invest....

i am a regular investor for their other products, and i know their Sales officer, she asked if i have invested in AS1M, i said i have not. Then she commented normally new fund will declare good return for the 1st year, if have excess fund can consider to invest......just a friendly call from her,
i dont think she need to push AS1M, so many chinese that already invested and max for the 1st round is waiting for the 2nd round of release after 3rd Sept.....they dont have problem to sell to chinese, only have problems to sell to other races i guess.

Additional comment by the president from Utusan Melayu.

1.9 bilion unit AS1M terjual sejak Julai

PUTRAJAYA 18 Ogos - Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) hari ini berkata sejumlah 1.9 bilion daripada 10 bilion unit dana Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) berjaya dijual sejak diperkenalkan hujung Julai lalu. Presiden dan Ketua Eksekutif Kumpulan PNB, Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman berkata, pembelian itu agak perlahan itu mungkin disebabkan para pelabur berpotensi mahu melihat prestasi amanah saham itu terlebih dahulu.

''Ini bukan kerana kurang promosi tetapi berdasarkan aliran sebelum ini (pelancaran dana-dana amanah saham PNB) baru kita keluar akan mengambil masa kerana pelabur mahu melihat prestasi amanah saham itu. ''Saya berharap para pelabur turut melihat prestasi PNB dan dana-dana amanah saham yang telah diperkenalkan oleh kami sebelum ini," katanya. Beliau berkata demikian pada sidang akhbar selepas menyaksikan Pertandingan Akhir Kuiz Pelaburan PNB 2009 (Kategori Universiti) yang disempurnakan Timbalan Menteri Pengajian Tinggi, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah di sini, hari ini.

Dana ekuiti itu mempunyai ciri-ciri seperti dana harga tetap lain iaitu Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) dan Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM).

Payment trend of PNB fixed price fund in 2009

ASM - 6.25% ( Financial year ended 31 March 09)
ASD - 6.3% (FYE 30 June 09)
ASW - 6.3% (FYE 31 Aug 09)
ASB - ? dont know yet (FYE 31/12/09) last year 2008 paid 7%+1.75% bonus.

I do not expect ASW will do better than 6.3% when ASD which is 100% held by Bumiputera only declared 6.3% few months ago.
If PNB does not push for AS1M now, ASW may declare lesser dividen than 6.3% because the prisident of PNB always benchmark AS1M's performance against ASW and ASM. My personal opinion.

This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Aug 19 2009, 04:19 PM