KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — The Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) has declared a dividend rate of five per cent for 2022 involving a total payout worth RM476.45 million.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan when announcing this today said the dividend rate increased by 0.9 per cent compared to 2021.
“This takes into account the state of the market and the country’s financial system which have yet to recover after nearly three years of being in a slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But due to the efficient management of LTAT they have received good returns from investors,” he told reporters at the ceremony to announce the dividend rate here.
Mohamad advised LTAT’s management not to expose the fund to high-risk investments and maintain the principle of safe savings for contributors.
“LTAT is a body established under Parliament Act for the armed forces to make contributions for their future. So, LTAT has a big role which is first, to make sure that their contributions are safe and secondly make sure that they bring returns.
“Don’t expose our savings to high risk (investments) because if we invest for high returns then the risks will be high. Then the principle will not be guaranteed. So, manage it well,” he said while also reminding LTAT not to ‘put it all in one basket’.
LTAT recorded RM652.36 million in gross income for the year under review, an increase of 27.4 per cent compared to the previous year, driven by public and private equity investment income.
It also recorded RM499.64 million in retained earnings, a significant increase of 72.8 per cent compared to RM289.15 million in 2021.
The dividend payouts were made to 122,935 contributors on Friday (March 10).
