ASB 2016 Dividend. 6.75% plus 0.5% bonus. Lower than last year 7.25% +0.5%. But given the currently very difficult market condition, I have to say, it is still very much competitive.

This post has been edited by Mr Gray: Dec 22 2016, 11:55 AM

No two financial crises are the same. Back in 1997/1998, the economy quickly recover due to the still strong US economy. In 2008/2009, the global economy rode on the massive fiscal stimulus injected by China. Now? China is moderating, and Europe is still in doldrums. Higher interest rate in the US would precipitate outflows of capital in the emerging market, Malaysia included.

There's no strong basis to suggest there's a political interference in the governance of PNB. Low crude oil price is a global phenomenon. Ringgit is depreciating. KLCI has dropped for three consecutive years. And PNB has to generate RM9/10 billion a year just to pay dividend for ASB. That's close to RM1 billion a month.

The income comes from only two source: 1. Trading income. 2. Dividend income. Dividends from companies are lower because their profits are lower, due to slowing economic growth. And trading income. When the stock market is stagnating or going down. Tell me, is it easy to generate money?


This post has been edited by Mr Gray: Dec 22 2016, 01:55 PM

You must always remember, what goes up must come down, and vice versa. If you want to run away, where to? FD? with measly 3% interest rate? Crisis won't last forever. Sooner or later, the financial market would be on an uptrend again. But when? Well, that's anybody's guess. At the very least, this time around, our economy is still growing, albeit around 4% rate. It's not contracting, fortunately.

Should Trump's pro growth policies manage to lift US growth higher than expected, Malaysia would benefit as well, since we are a trade dependent nation.

Stadium Merdeka & Stadium Negara have been in PNB's possession since 2000, after it bought it from Danaharta at RM310 million, at RM220 per square feet. Both national buildings are sitting in prime area, but there was limited revenue that could be churned out from that. There's no question of demolishing it, due to historical reasons. So, PNB has decided to monetize it. So is there anything wrong with that? What's wrong with trying to generate more income? If you have been to Menara PNB, you will know how old and ugly the building is. PNB is not even using unit trust money for God sake. It's all proprietary fund.

PNB is owned by Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra, and the PM, DPM sit on the board of YPB. It was formed by the government for social reason, do you expect DAP/PAS/PKR to sit on the board? Come on.

But so far, I think it's run pretty much quite independent from the government. All investment decisions are made by the staffs, and as far as I know, we are not forced to do this and that. PNB didn't subscribe to 1MDB bonds, despite being offered by the company. And PNB has never been forced to bail out any companies.

For Petronas/Khazanah, you can look in history how they have bailed out Proton, MAS etc.

So yeah, unless you are able to give me strong, reasonable and rational arguments, I do think your view is very much speculative and doesn't hold much water.

This post has been edited by Mr Gray: Dec 22 2016, 10:18 PM

Your guess is as good as mine. When the whole market expects Britain to reject Brexit, voters proved them wrong. And when consensus expects Clinton to win, the voters again proved them wrong. They will be several more elections coming up in Europe in 2017. We are not living in ordinary time. Unpredictable events ie black swans no longer happen once in a blue moon. Should you follow the market or be contrarian?

Tepuk dada, tanya selera.

Indeed. And reserves are also used to support the NAV of ASB to ensure that it stays around RM1. If NAV falls too much below RM1, it's essentially a risk to PNB. As unit holders are able to withdraw at RM1 price. If NAV rises above RM1 too much, it's also a risk to PNB as unit holders can buy ASB at RM1 price. There are risks in investment, and PNB has taken care of all the risks on behalf of unit trust holders. The reserves are in place for risk management purpose. Without it, fixed price unit trust is impossible.