Find out what are the best Malaysian Private Retirement Schemes (PRS) to invest in 2018/2019. Save, invest and retire well!

PRS Quick Overview

Private Retirement Schemes (PRS) were introduced in 2012 as a volunatry long-term investment scheme to help accumulate funds for retirement. PRS benefits include a RM3,000 annual tax relief, and a youth incentive of RM1,000 (until 2018 Dec 31 only!).

PRS are generally divided into 3 categories defined as below:-

Core FundsDefault Age GroupAsset Allocation
Growth FundBelow 40 YearsMaximum 70% in equity; 30% in debentures/fixed income and money market instruments
Moderate Fund40-50 YearsMaximum of 60% in equity; 40% in debentures/fixed income and money market instruments
Conservative Fund50 Years and above80% in debentures/fixed income instruments with minimum 20% in money market instruments and maximum 20% in equity

Overall, PRS returns have been a good option if you take full advantage of the tax/youth incentives offered, and select a decent performing PRS fund.

 

PRS Top Performers 2018

Ranked by Rating

  1. Overall 5.0 Rating
    Affin Hwang PRS Moderate
    AmPRS PRS Conservative
    AmPRS PRS Islamic Fixed Income
  2. Overall 4.7 Rating
    Affin Hwang Aiiman PRS Shariah Growth
    AmPRS PRS Islamic Balanced
    CIMB-Principal PRS Plus Equity
    Kenanga OnePRS Moderate
    Kenanga Shariah OnePRS Growth
  3. Overall 4.3 Rating
    Affin Hwang PRS Growth
    CIMB-Principal PRS Plus Conservative
    Public Mutual Islamic PRS Islamic Growth

Analysis

Plus

  • AmPRS PRS Conservative is the only fund that retained its 5.0 rating from 2017-2018.
  • Affin Hwang PRS Moderate improved from 4.7 to 5.0 rating.
  • AmPRS PRS Islamic Fixed Income improved tremendously from 3.0 to 5.0 rating.
  • Kenanga Shariah OnePRS Growth remained steady at 4.7 rating.
  • Affin Hwang PRS Growth improved from 4.3 to 4.7 rating.
  • Public Mutual Islamic PRS Islamic Growth improved from 3.3 to 4.3 rating.

Negatives

  • AIA PAM PRS Moderate fund dropped back from 5.0 to 4.0 rating.

Other

  • CIMB-Principal PRS Plus APAC Ex Japan improved slightly from 3.7 to 4.0 rating in line with slight recovery after APAC correction in 2018 1H.
  • CIMB-Principal PRS Plus Growth and Moderate dipped from 4.3 to 4.0 rating.

Overall: AmPRS PRS and Affin Hwang performance ratings has been stellar with steady/improved ratings. Selected Islamic PRS funds have also been showing improved performance.

 

Ranked by Returns (IRR)

  1. CIMB-Principal PRS Plus APAC Ex Japan: 12.19% (2017 #1: 14.21%)
  2. CIMB Islamic PRS Plus APAC Ex Japan: 8.02% (2017 #13: 8.78%)
  3. AmPRS Growth Asia Pacific REITs: 7.83% (2017 #2: 11.96%)
  4. Public Mutual Growth PRS Strategic Equity: 7.71% (2017 #4: 10.07%)
  5. Public Mutual Growth PRS Equity: 7.12% (2017 #8: 7.48%)

Analysis

  • CIMB-Principal PRS Plus APAC Ex Japan’s continues to reign as the highest ranked overall returns at 14.21% although the 6-month performance is at -6.58% with the APAC market dip.
  • CIMB Islamic PRS Plus APAC Ex Japan remains overall steady at 8.02% although the 6-month performance is at -6.00% also going through the APAC market dip.
  • AmPRS REIT at 7.83% is the new #3 PRS fund with slight signs of REITs performance improvements. It also remains unique by virtue of the only PRS REIT fund option with stable if not very exciting returns.
  • Public Mutual Growth relatively newer PRS Strategic Equity and PRS Equity funds are performing decently well and at least showing a positive 6-month return at 0.60% and 2.66% respectively.
  • Overall: CIMB-Principal PRS Plus APAC ex Japan and it’s Islamic counterpart are still good options for consideration if you believe that APAC markets will rebound. Alternatively, AmPRS Growth Asia Pacific REITs are providing stable returns and may fare well with REITs sector recovery.

 

Ranked by Category

Growth

  1. CIMB-Principal PRS Plus APAC Ex Japan: 12.19%
  2. CIMB Islamic PRS Plus APAC Ex Japan: 8.02%
  3. AmPRS Growth Asia Pacific REITs: 7.83%
  4. Public Mutual Growth PRS Strategic Equity: 7.71%
  5. Public Mutual Growth PRS Equity: 7.12%

Moderate

  1. Kenanga OnePRS Moderate: 5.93%
  2. Affin Hwang PRS Moderate: 5.74%
  3. AmPRS PRS Tactical Bond: 5.72%
  4. CIMB-Principal PRS Plus Moderate: 5.00%
  5. CIMB Islamic PRS Plus Moderate: 4.85%

Conservative

  1. AmPRS Conservative PRS Conservative: 6.05%
  2. Kenanga Conservative OnePRS Conservative: 4.67%
  3. AIA PAM Conservative PRS Conservative: 4.01%
  4. Affin Hwang Conservative PRS Conservative: 4.00%
  5. RHB Conservative Retirement Series Conservative: 3.75%

Islamic

  1. AmPRS PRS Conservative: 4.33%
  2. Kenanga OnePRS Conservative: 4.01%
  3. AmPRS PRS Islamic Fixed Income: 3.77%
  4. CIMB-Principal PRS Plus Conservative: 3.74%
  5. Affin Hwang PRS Conservative: 3.67%

Analysis

  • Growth funds continue to outperform moderate and conservative funds with the top 6 funds all being Growth funds.
  • Moderate funds also continue outperforming Conservative funds, as equities have been riding on a bullish trend.
  • Conservative funds continue to perform at 3-4% levels, at a rate near Malaysian fixed deposit rates.
  • Islamic funds performance have started catching up to non-Islamic funds with Islamic Finance and Industrials sectors outperforming.
  • Overall: Growth funds generally have taken the biggest (negative) impact in 2018 although recovery signs are visible. We suggest looking at PRS funds primarily for the incentives while fitting your overall portfolio.

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