SHAH ALAM — Employees Provident Fund (EPF) CEO Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn is pleased that less than expected was withdrawn from Akaun Fleksible (Account 3), which he takes as a sign that Malaysians understand the need to preserve their retirement funds.
Ahmad Zulqarnain said withdrawals from the account since it was launched in May last year, totalled RM12.2 billion for 2024.
This is a figure lower than the RM25 billion that was originally anticipated, he said today.
“Of our membership, we saw 70% did not utilise Akaun Fleksibel and only 30% of the four million members made withdrawals from the account.
“We are pleased with this ratio which shows the majority of Malaysians do intend to keep their retirement savings,” Bernama reported him saying at the briefing EPF’s 2024 dividend briefing here today.
Akaun Fleksibel or Account 3 was introduced to meet EPF members’ short-term financial needs and can be tapped at any time subject to terms and conditions.
EPF today announced a 6.3% dividend rate for 2024 for both its conventional and shariah accounts, the highest rate since 2017. The payouts for 2024 involve RM63.05 billion and RM10.19 billion, respectively.
Ahmad Zulqarnain said among the factors determining the latest dividend rate were the 12.7% increase in Malaysia’s equity market and the 17% growth in the global equity market.
“Hence Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was also quite strong at 5.1%,” he added.
In 2017, EPF had declared a 6.9% dividend rate for conventional savings, and 6.4% for shariah savings.
Commenting on dividend prospects for 2025, Ahmad Zulqarnain said EPF cannot forecast the dividend rates as it depends on several challenges including geopolitical risks and international trade risks influenced by the United States.
He also said EPF ranked the 13th largest pension fund in the world and the fifth largest in Asia as at September 2024, when its fund size then was US$247 billion.
“The EPF is one of the largest pension funds in the world. We will continue to grow and foresee growing over the next two decades at roughly the same rate — *% to 9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).” – March 1, 2025