29th September 2026 - 6 min read
Amanah Saham Malaysia 3 (ASM 3) will pay investors 5.00 sen for every unit they own, for the financial year ending 30 September 2026. That’s up from 4.75 sen last year, and Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB) says it’s the fund’s highest payout in seven years [PDF].
ASNB is paying out RM1.01 billion in total to 818,137 unitholders, who together own 20.97 billion units. If you’re one of them, you don’t need to do anything. Your payout goes into your ASM 3 account on 1 October 2026.
The payout, also called a dividend, is your share of what ASM 3 earned from its investments this year. ASNB keeps the price at RM1.00 per unit, so 5.00 sen per unit is the same as 5% of the money you kept in the fund.
You won’t get the payout as cash. ASNB reinvests it, which means it uses your payout to buy more ASM 3 units for you. RM1,000 held for the whole year earns RM50, and that RM50 becomes 50 extra units.
If you pay zakat through ASNB’s Zakat Khultah (Class B) option, 2.57% of your payout goes to zakat first. ASNB puts your rate after zakat at 4.87%.
Each year, ASNB compares ASM 3’s payout with Maybank’s 12-month fixed deposit (FD) rate. For this year, it used 1.99% as of 23 September 2026. These are the payouts and FD rates ASNB has reported for the last five financial years, each ending 30 September.
| Financial Year | ASM 3 Payout (Sen Per Unit) | Maybank 12-Month FD Rate Used By ASNB (% p.a.) |
| 2022 | 3.75 | 2.02 |
| 2023 | 4.50 | 2.86 |
| 2024 | 4.75 | 2.69 |
| 2025 | 4.75 | 2.40 |
| 2026 | 5.00 | 1.99 |
Since 2023, the FD rate ASNB compares ASM 3 with has fallen from 2.86% to 1.99%, while ASM 3’s payout rose from 4.50 sen to 5.00 sen. On RM10,000 held for the full year, ASM 3 paid RM164 more than that FD in 2023 and RM301 more this year.
ASNB works out your payout from the lowest amount you had in ASM 3 in each month of the financial year, from October 2025 to September 2026. It then takes the average of those 12 amounts. ASNB calls this your average minimum monthly balance.
For example, RM10,000 put into ASM 3 at the end of March 2026 counted as RM10,000 for April to September, and as RM0 for October to March. The average is RM5,000, so the payout is RM250, not RM500.
Taking money out, even for a short time, also lowers your payout. Take RM8,000 out of a RM10,000 balance for just one week, and that whole month only counts as RM2,000. Money you add partway through a month starts counting from the next full month.
Maybank’s 12-month FD pays 1.90% p.a. today, and other banks pay more. On our 12-month FD comparison page, the highest board rate as of 29 September 2026 is Bank of China’s 2.95% p.a., followed by Alliance Bank FD Gold at 2.55% p.a.
FD promotions pay more than board rates. The best 12-month promotion on our list is MBSB Bank’s Term Deposit-i, at a profit rate of 3.80% p.a. for a minimum of RM1,000 in fresh funds. It ends on 30 September 2026, as do the other 12-month promotions on the list.
By our calculation, RM10,000 earns RM295 in a year at 2.95% p.a., and RM380 at 3.80% p.a. ASM 3 paid RM500 on the same amount this year, but next year’s payout isn’t known yet. FD rates change often, so check both pages again before you decide.
ASM 3 paid more than an FD this year, but only an FD tells you what you’ll earn before you put any money in. If you keep your money in the FD for the full term, you get the rate it promised. FDs are also protected by the Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation (PIDM) for up to RM250,000 per person, per bank, if the bank fails.
ASNB only announces ASM 3’s payout at the end of each financial year, and it’s ranged from 3.75 sen to 5.00 sen in the last five years. ASNB keeps the price at RM1.00, but ASM 3 isn’t capital guaranteed [PDF]. That means nobody promises you’ll get back every ringgit you put in, and PIDM doesn’t protect unit trust funds.
ASNB’s product highlights sheet for ASM 3 also says the fund can put up to 90% of its money into shares listed in Malaysia or overseas, with the rest in bonds, cash, and other investments. Shares and bonds can lose value.
ASM 3 doesn’t lock your money away, though. You can sell your units at RM1.00 on any business day, except when ASNB pauses transactions, as it has this week. If you take money out of an FD early, many banks pay you little or no interest.
Because the payout comes as extra units, each year’s payout also earns a payout the year after. At 5% a year, RM10,000 left in ASM 3 for five years would grow to RM12,763.
ASM 3 is open to Malaysians aged 18 and above, unlike Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB), which is only for Bumiputera investors. You can also invest your EPF savings in ASM 3 through the EPF Members Investment Scheme.
ASNB offers a set number of ASM 3 units, and they sell out. ASNB says its July 2025 release of ASM 3 units sold out within 24 hours. The fund has also grown from 650,487 unitholders in 2024 to 717,446 in 2025 and 818,137 this year. That’s 100,691 new unitholders in one year.
If you’ve never invested with ASNB, its Unlock ASM 3 campaign sets aside RM118 million of units for you. If everyone put in the full RM10,000, that would cover 11,800 people. Open a new ASNB account on the myASNB app, then enter the promo code UNLOCK2 when you make your first ASM 3 purchase. You can put in anything from RM10 to RM10,000. The campaign runs until 31 December 2026, but units are given out on a first come, first served basis, so they may run out before then.
If you already have an ASNB account but have never bought ASM 3, you can use the same code through GOfinance in Touch ‘n Go eWallet, with the same RM10,000 limit.
ASM 3 is closed for buying and selling until 30 September while ASNB works out everyone’s payout. From 1 October, you can buy on the myASNB website and app, at ASNB branches, and through ASNB agents. The app is on Google Play and the App Store.
Anything you put in from 1 October counts towards next year’s payout, for the year ending 30 September 2027. Each month you wait is one less month counted. At this year’s rate, that’s RM41.67 a month on RM10,000, though next year’s rate isn’t known yet.
An FD is still the better fit for money you need back on a set date, or money you want protected by PIDM. ASM 3 is also one of several ASNB funds, so compare it with the others you qualify for before you buy.
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As a creative content writer, Eloise has covered finance, business, lifestyle topics, and even moonlights as a singer-songwriter outside of RinggitPlus. Her current interests are learning the best ways to optimise spending and credit card hacks to gain more airline miles.
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