Now that all the 3.3 billion units of the ASM has been fully subscribed, rumours abound that the government will open a further tranche of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW)for public subscription.

For the uninitiated, ASW was launched in 1996. All Malaysians can subscribed for these units.

There are two types of accounts. For adults aged 18 years and above and the Youth Accounts for those aged 6 months to below 18 years old.

The unit price is RM1.00. The minimum unit allowable is one unit and purchases are thence subscribed in multiples of 1,000. The minimum for those using EPF is RM1,000.

Thus far, there is no maximum imposed. The sale of ASW units will be stopped once the offer units are depleted. The current fund stands at RM14 billion units. There is no cooling-off period. Once subscribed, it is considered sold.

Interestingly, there is no sales nor redemption charge. Payment is done on the spot when you sell your units.

The financial year-end of ASW is August 31.

For the years ending 2006, 2007 and 2008, the dividend pay-out has been impressive at 6.8%,8% and 7%.

These rates are better than the paltry 2.5% for fixed deposits offered by commercial banks currently.

So, hop on the bandwagon if this sale is true.