Ten years on, PHB strives to help Bumiputeras build wealth

Steep prices of residential and commercial properties will discourage most people from investing in pricey properties these days.

Fortunately, for the Bumiputeras who cannot afford to invest in properties on their own to create wealth, they still could do so through agencies like Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad (PHB).

PHB's investment schemes are designed to give potential Bumiputera investors an advantage where the investor can start early by investing in affordable amounts.

Now any Bumiputera can participate in property investment by investing as low as RM100. There is no need for individuals to wait until they are in their 30s or 40s to amass enough capital to invest in real estate or cough out huge capital.

PHB's core commitment is to increase Bumiputera's wealth in general through investments in commercial real estate.

The real estate based holding company, an establishment under the purview of Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera, was founded in May 8, 2006. Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi during the Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006-2010 meeting announced the establishment of PHB.

Now, after a decade of existence, PHB continues to envision itself as the agency that provides Bumiputeras with wealth building opportunity through Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera (AHB) unit trust, property investment and property development.

AHB is a Shariah compliance unit trust and was twice accorded 'Best Islamic Fund Award' under 'Best of the Best Awards', both for 2015 and 2016 by Asia Asset Management, an internationally recognised publication in Asia.

AHB is an affordable sure-return unit trust investment fund that allows greater number of people regardless of age and earning capacity to invest indirectly in real estate.

Since its launch on Nov 29, 2010 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, PHB has seen the AHB fund size grow from 1 billion units to 3.5 billion units.

At the initial launch, AHB minimum investment was introduced at RM500. PHB decided to draw more investors by the Bumiputera and reduced it to RM100 per person. Although for those who can afford, the maximum investment could go up to RM500,000 per person.

The investors' unit trust savings goes towards PHB's property investment and property development schemes. Today PHB is the proud owner of 17 commercial properties around the country that its acquired or developed.

Today PHB is the proud owner of 17 commercial properties which are already being occupied.

Among the landmark properties that it owns include the Menara Bumiputera-Commerce, Menara BT, 1Sentrum and Nu Sentral (all in KL), Wisma Consplant (Subang Jaya), Jaya33 (Petaling Jaya), The Shore Shopping Gallery (Melaka), and many more.

The returns derived by PHB from these property investments will be used to invest in new properties and pay dividends to investors.

PHB recently held a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) event to promote AHB unit trust and encourage savings through property investment.

The school children that attended the 'Kempen Menabung Sambil Melabur' (Save While Investing) launched on 15 Feb had the opportunity to listen to Malaysian artiste Neelofa, PHB's brand ambassador, to speak on the benefits of saving via AHB. The representative from AHB Fund Manager, Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd was also present.

PHB believes in inculcating savings habit from young and through proper platforms like AHB and not to miss out on the wealth creation opportunity made available in the country for them by the government.

PHB Group Managing Director and chief executive officer Datuk Kamalul Arifin said; "The CSR program was organized to increase opportunity for participation from the underprivileged students while at the same time to encourage them to save and practice smart financial management".

"PHB hopes that the AHB unit trust allocated to the selected students today could offer them insights into benefits of saving and investing for a brighter future," he added.

At this point of time, the majority of the 56,000 investors are those from the 20 and above age group. PHB is on a mission to see greater participation from the younger generation.

Prior to the talk, PHB disbursed its AHB unit trust fund to around 200 underprivileged students from Form 3 to Form 5 from five schools where each school was represented by 40 students.

"Among our proud accomplishment, PHB has successfully built and owned Malaysia new landmark such as Menara 1 Sentrum, NU Sentral Shopping Centre, and the extension of Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur in Jalan Ampang."

We have lined up several other property project as a future development which includes building KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital 2, Lot 20001 in Jalan Bangsar and Lot 301 in Jalan Conlay," Kamalul Arifin Othman shared on PHB upcoming undertakings.

As its long term plan, PHB plans to have its felt presence in every state in Malaysia.