KUCHING: Employees Provident Fund (EPF)-linked investors are urged to invest with clear targets and exit discipline rather than hold indefinitely.
PMB Investment Berhad Agency Manager Noor Azlan Hashim, said the most common mistake made by investors are not the choice of product, but the absence of an objective.
“Without any end goal, investors tend to freeze when markets move, then stay too long when returns have already met their goal,” he said during the Investment Talk session with PMB Investment at Suara Sarawak Office.
Using EPF dividends as a practical yardstick, he said that EPF dividends typically sit around five to six per cent.
“On that basis, investors who have already achieved returns above seven per cent, even within a year, should consider taking profit instead of holding on out of greed,” Noor Azlan added.
He noted that the discipline in investment is simple: invest with a medium- to long-term view, invest consistently, monitor closely and exit when the target has been achieved.
“The ‘exit’ is part of protecting gains, not abandoning the investment plan,” he said.
EPF-linked investing: investible balance, rhythm, monitoring
Azlan said EPF-linked investing starts with knowing what is actually investible.
He said members should check i-Akaun because the investible amount is subject to EPF calculations, including the basic savings threshold.
He gave an example of a 40-year-old with RM120,000 in Account 1, where RM74,000 would be deducted first under the basic savings threshold schedule, leaving RM46,000 as the investible balance.
He also cited a condition discussed in the session that at age 35, Account 1 should be above RM50,000, stressing that these are EPF requirements rather than rules set by any fund house.
On execution, he described investing on a rhythm rather than reacting to headlines.
He said monitoring matters because some investors delay decisions until profits have faded.
“That is why it is important that investors ‘exit’ once targets are met rather than wait for a reversal,” he stressed.
Fund performance snapshot and PMB’s positioning
PMB Investment’s performance figures were presented during the talk.
PMB Investment Bhd Unit Trust Consultant, Anwar Beduan, pointed to three-year returns ending May 31, 2025, led by PMB Syariah Equity Fund at 66.36 per cent and PMB An Nur Waqf Income Fund at 60 per cent.
He also highlighted Amanah Saham Mara at 63.14 per cent, Syariah Dividend Fund at 43.27 per cent, Syariah Small Cap Fund at 34.57 per cent and Dana Bestari at 33.47 per cent over the same three-year period.
For the five years ended May 31, 2025, he highlighted PMB Shariah Equity Fund at 141.30 per cent, Amanah Saham Mara at 97.53 per cent, Dana Bestari at 69.87 per cent and Syariah Small Cap at 58.80 per cent.
“PMB Investment operates as an Islamic fund management company within the Pelaburan MARA group, with investment activities regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia,” Anwar reiterated.
“Our firm offers 19 syariah-compliant unit trust funds open to all Malaysians, and syariah advisory and independent trustees are part of the fund governance structure.”
Following this, he added that the PMB Investment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pelaburan MARA Bhd.
“It was incorporated on January 15, 1993 as ASM MARA Unit Trust Management Bhd and later adopted the PMB Investment name in 2014,” he said.
Against those performance figures, Azlan and Anwar further reminded investors to set targets, monitor regularly and take profit once objectives are met.
