Unit trust or mutual fund is a financial vehicle through which individuals may invest their money. The idea behind unit trust is better returns through collective investing. In other words, it means pooling the investments of many investors, individuals and institutions.

Unit trust is getting popular nowadays due to potentially higher return when compare to fixed deposit or EPF saving. Furthermore, EPF is providing an option to withdraw some or your EPF saving for the purpose of investing in unit trust.

If you still wondering whether to invest in unit trust or not, you should see the reason why you should.

1. Being well-diversified financial instruments, they are less risky than if you were to invest in individual stocks.
2. You can reap investment opportunities from all over the world, as they are invested globally and into different financial instruments.
3. They are managed by professional fund managers who aim to obtain higher returns for your money. You do not need to monitor equity markets closely for fluctuations.
4. There is a wide selection of unit trusts available to meet the different investment objectives of investors. Staying invested over time, these returns can compound to very attractive amounts, unlike savings deposits.
5. Fund houses are bound by agreement to purchase the unit trusts back from you should you decide to sell your holdings, at the prevailing price on the date of sale, regardless of the number of units sold. Liquidity gives flexibility.

We wish to inform that Public Ittikal Fund (P ITTIKAL) will be re-opened for EPF investments with effect from 20 October 2011. P ITTIKAL will however remain closed for cash sales.

Investors who wish to make cash investments may consider investing in our new fund, Public Ittikal Sequel Fund (PITSEQ) which was launched on 11 October 2011. PITSEQ has similar features to P ITTIKAL and aims to achieve capital growth over the medium to long term period by investing in a portfolio of Shariah-compliant equities and sukuk. PITSEQ comes with free Takaful coverage on Group Term Life with Total and Permanent Disability plus Group Personal Accident, subject to terms and conditions.

5.8% is not enough !!!! You can get more from Public Mutual.

PETALING JAYA: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has declared a dividend of 5.8% for 2010, up from 5.65% declared the year before.

It will pay out a total of RM21.61bil to members, an increase from the 2009 dividend payout of RM19.37bil.

EPF declared that the rate, which was approved by the Finance Minister, was the “highest dividend payout amount ever”.

EPF’s total investment assets stood at RM440.52bil as at Dec 31 last year while its gross investment income was RM24.06bil.

KUALA LUMPUR: A significantly larger number of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members have opted to withdraw part of their retirement savings for investment in unit trusts.

The amount withdrawn under Members Investment Withdrawals in the first quarter of 2010 rose 43.26% to RM911.15mil from RM636.01mil withdrawn in the corresponding period last year, said EPF in a press statement.

Total applications approved under this withdrawal increased to 113,809 from 87,420 in the same period last year.

“The increase in withdrawals for investments is in tandem with the recovery in the domestic economy that began in the third quarter of 2009, and has since continued to gain momentum,” said EPF chief executive officer Tan Sri Azlan Zainol.

He added that the increase was also attributed to the rise in the number of members who were eligible for investment withdrawals.

Priority towards prudent investing was also reflected in the increasing number of retirees who opted for Flexible 55 Withdrawals to stretch the value of their retirement savings as opposed to Lump Sum Withdrawals. — Bernama (June 11, 2010)

KUALA LUMPUR 18 Nov. - Kadar caruman berkanun Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) bahagian pekerja akan dinaikkan semula kepada 11 peratus berkuatkuasa gaji bulan Januari 2011.

Caruman itu dibayar kepada KWSP mulai Februari 2011, kata Pengurus Besar Perhubungan Awam KWSP, Nik Affendi Jaafar dalam kenyataan di sini hari ini.

Kadar caruman berkanun pekerja diturunkan daripada 11 peratus kepada 8 peratus untuk tempoh dua tahun bermula gaji bulan Januari 2009 sehingga Disember 2010.

Majikan dinasihat memastikan jumlah caruman yang betul dipotong daripada gaji pekerja berdasarkan kadar caruman baru ini dan dibayar kepada KWSP bermula daripada caruman bulan Februari 2011.

Beliau berkata, ahli yang sebelum ini mengemukakan Borang KWSP 17A (AHL) Khas/KWSP 17AA Khas untuk mengekalkan kadar caruman pada 11 peratus sepanjang tempoh dua tahun itu tidak perlu mengambil sebarang tindakan.

Caruman KWSP bulanan bahagian majikan kekal pada 12 peratus, katanya.

Majikan yang memerlukan maklumat lanjut boleh mengunjungi cawangan KWSP terdekat, menghubungi Pusat Panggilan KWSP di 03-8922 6000 atau menghantar pertanyaan mereka melalui laman web myEPF di Enquiry. - Bernama

Untuk mengira jumlah wang KWSP anda yang boleh dikeluarkan dan dilaburkan ke dalam Pelaburan Unit Amanah: Klik Di Sini.