KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Contributors to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) should not compare the dividends announced for 2019 with those paid out 10 years ago, said its chief.

Alizakri Alias ​​said the environment was different then, so it is rather unfair to make the comparisons.

"Last year there was the trade war, Brexit and (demonstrations in) Hong Kong. This year, there is Covid-19,” he told TV3 today.

EPF today declared a dividend of 5.45 per cent for Simpanan Konvensional and 5.0 per cent for Simpanan Shariah, which involves a payout of RM41.68 billion and RM4.14 billion, respectively.

In terms of stock market performance, EPF had earned higher returns than other equity fund managers, he revealed.

"(Hence) due consideration must be given to how we performed against our peers in terms of asset class, quality of assets, stocks, as well as their median performance last year, they earned a three per cent return..our EPF earned more than seven per cent..from that perspective, EPF has done its best,” he said.

EPF expects 2020 to be a more challenging year with Covid-19 possibly causing a slowdown in global economic growth.

Alizakri said the US-China trade war, which has not shown any signs of abating, is among the risks in the recovery of other economies.

He emphasised investment funds such as EPF should not be hasty in their decisions.

"This involves long-term investments. We cannot easily retract in disadvantaged situations or engage in hasty investments.

"We are careful and conservative in our decisions since this is a retirement fund, which prevents us from taking a high-risk approach. Our decisions are backed by strong reasoning and research. We need to ensure we retain sufficient funds to ensure retirees’ ability to withdraw,” he said.

Earlier in a statement, Alizakri assured EPF’s 14.6 million members, who encompass five generations of the Malaysian workforce, that the fund recognises the increasing pressures of the new decade. — Bernama