Once GST is implemented in 2015, many are expecting the inflation rate for Malaysia to increase. With that in mind, many Malaysians are searching for passive investment that could generate returns that are equal or higher then the inflation rate in order preserve the value of their savings. 

 

One of the popular "near" guaranteed passive investment available in Malaysia is Amanah Saham Bumiputera. Amanah Saham Bumiputera or ASB in short is one of the most seek after passive investment by Malaysian Bumiputera due to its consistent dividend and bonus. See historical dividend and bonus for ASB below:

Historical Dividend courtesy of 1-Million-Dollar-Blog

Due to ASB's popularity, most financial/investing/personal finance blog including this one would have written extensively about ASB. In some of my older articles about ASB, I wrote with the perception that dividend and bonus from ASB can be summed into a single value in order to calculate the annual return.

(Rest  assured I've made the necessary amendments to my older articles)

 

Now if we look at dividend and bonus from a logical point of view, the fact that ASB declares dividend and bonus separately should have raised some doubts. If both are the same, why not just declare everything as dividend only! 

 

This severe lack of understanding on the difference between dividend and bonus has lead many ASB investors to have the following misperceptions:

• Annual return is calculated based on the summation of dividend + bonus
• Dividend and bonus are calculated based on the balance in ASB account as of 31st Dec for each year

If the above are incorrect, then how exactly does ASB calculate their dividend and bonus for investors? Let's take a look...