RM1b investment fund for bumiputras launched

Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd (PHB) hopes next year to increase its Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera (AHB) investment fund size by 50% from the existing 1 billion units, said managing director and chief executive officer Kamalul Arifin Othman.

Launched yesterday, the fund would enable bumiputra investors to own real estate assets with a minimum investment of RM500.

The fund has an approved fund size of 1 billion units priced at RM1 each. It is open to bumiputras above three months of age, with investors below the age of 18 requiring a Malaysian legal guardian signatory.

It is a unit trust and not a real estate investment trust because the ownership is still with PHB. But the fund enjoys the beneficial ownership of the properties, Kamalul told reporters yesterday at the fund's launch.

The fund's underlying assets are CP Tower in Petaling Jaya, 26 Boulevard in Putrajaya, Wisma Consplant in Subang Jaya, Tesco Setia Alam and Industrial Complex in Shah Alam.
The fund's returns should be similar to that of Grade A buildings in the Golden Triangle, which would be not less than 6%.

The fund's income comes from the rental of these properties and we will pay the income distribution twice a year, Kamalul said.
The company's financial year ends on Sept 30, 2011, and PHB would look at an income payout every six months.

Kamalul said PHB remained positive on the property market in Malaysia considering the country's economic growth next year would create more business opportunities, therefore increasing office space demand.

PHB has seven completed assets in its portfolio. The two buildings not injected into the fund are Menara Bumiputra Commerce in Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur and PHB's head office, Peremba Square, in Saujana Resort.

The unit trust scheme is aimed at boosting PHB's funding to allow it to invest in more properties. AHB would focus on investments in beneficial ownership of real estate which provide stable income and yield-accretive real estate.

Kamalul said PHB would enhance the existing fund and grow it to a certain level before considering launching another fund.

First announced during the tabling of Budget 2011, AHB aims to provide investors with a regular and consistent income stream and would be available throughout Maybank branches nationwide.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also chairman of Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera, said PHB had been pursuing selective acquisitions of completed properties, undertaking construction and accumulating land banks for developments in the last three years. PHB is a subsidiary of Yayasan Amanah.

PHB has assembled a stock of tenanted and revenue generating properties and it is now ready to implement its goal of distributing ownership entitlements' to bumiputra investors, he said during his speech.

Najib said he hoped the fund would receive the right support from bumiputras, which would contribute to the overall balance of the country's economy.

Further, the syariah-compliant nature of the fund will indirectly widen the Islamic banking instruments in Malaysia, in line with the Government's ambition to turn Malaysia into a global Islamic financial hub, he said. (The Star Online)

Fundsupermart's Cash Management Fund Is Available!

Fundsupermart.com is offering a Cash Management Fund. This money market fund is managed by OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd and available only for Fundsupermart.com’s investors.

Cash Management Fund offers returns, convenience, security, liquidity and ease to investors. Your investment here earns an annual yield (interest rate). The current rate of 2.96% (as at 17th September 2008) is benchmarked against Maybank Berhad’s savings account, but is expected to outperform. For the latest Cash Management Fund rate, click here.


To make things even better, there are no sales charges to be paid when placing money in the Cash Management Fund. When you feel that it is time invest in a particular unit trust, you can utilise funds in your Cash Management Fund at anytime to conduct a buy transaction.

Investing in the Cash Management Fund is easy as it only requires a minimum first-time investment of RM500 and RM100 for the subsequent investments. There is no lock-in period and the minimum redemption amount is RM100.

To purchase Cash Management Fund, kindly login to your FSM MY account, click Transaction > Cash Management Fund > Buy Cash Management Fund.
For more information on Cash Fund, kindly refer to the Fund factsheet and prospectus.

__________________________________________________________

This article is not to be construed as an offer or solicitation for the subscription, purchase or sale of any fund. No investment decision should be taken without first viewing a fund's prospectus and if necessary, consulting with financial or other professional advisers. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Past performance and any forecast is not necessarily indicative of the future or likely performance of the fund. The value of units and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Please read FSM disclaimer in their website(http://www.fundsupermart.com.my).

50% discount promotion (on sales charge) for Fundsupermart recommended funds

Fundsupermart just published their latest list of recommended unit trust funds. They are currently running a promotion with just 1% sales charge. That’s 50% discount on the transaction fees.

With over 550 funds from 39 fund houses, choosing the right fund can be daunting. That’s why I always receive emails from readers asking which fund is worth investing. I simply can’t answer you because how am I going to recommend any fund without researching all 550 funds? We should leave this job to the expert, who are paid to do the research full time.

Evaluating Funds’ Performance, Expense Ratio and Risks
Fundsupermart.com (FSM) has released their Recommended Funds 2010 list by evaluating the funds in areas such as Performance, Expense Ratio and Risks.

They give Performance a 40 – 60% weighting since the profit-making abilities of the fund manager is the most important factor. The returns are evaluated against benchmarks and peer group averages within similar sectors and regions

FSM also evaluates the returns over various time periods, including both good and bad times, to check for performance consistency. Funds have to be at least 3 years old before FSM considers them.

FSM places a weighting of 20-30% each in Expense Ratio and Risks in order to evaluate whether the higher fees and additional risks are commensurate with returns.

Every recommendation is supported by reasons
You can head over to this list of recommended funds. FSM elaborate the reasons they recommend a particular unit trust fund.

For example, they recommended AmDynamic Bond because:

AmDynamic Bond emerged as the top performing fund among its peers with a five-year annualised return of 9.9% (from end March 2005 to end March 2010) as compared to an average annualised return of 4.2% within the same period.
The fund made the highest cumulative returns over the one-, two-,
three-, four- and five-year periods in its category, as at 31 March 2010.
The fund also outperformed its benchmark, RAM Quantshop All MGS Index over the past three years. Its cumulative returns over the one-, two- and three-year periods were 10.5%, 19.0% and 23.6% respectively, significantly higher than its benchmark’s return of 2.5%, 7.7% and 10.4% respectively.
In addition, its expense ratio is reasonable at 1.19% (as at 31 January 2010), which is lower compared to the average expense ratio of 1.32% against its peers.
How to invest unit trust with Fundsupermart?
1. Open an account online

2. Regular saving plan application

Disclaimer:
This article is not to be construed as an invitation or solicitation for the subscription, purchase or sale of any fund. Investments involve risks. Investors should read the fund’s prospectus and if necessary, consult with financial or other professional advisers.

Unit Trust

Following the stabilisation of the global economies after the global financial crisis, we have seen a significant recovery in prices of hard commodities (such as base metal (e.g. copper, aluminum), bulk commodities (e.g. coal, iron ore) and precious metal (gold, silver)). Whilst we do not necessarily expect the same rate of price increase going forward, it is our expectation that such commodity prices are likely to remain well supported from demand growth, particularly from the emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil as well as the western world coupled with supply side constraints which should underpin these commodity prices over the coming years.


Hence, we bring you a Fund that offers capital protection* and potential returns via an option structure which offers exposure to the performance of a collective investment scheme investing in the securities of companies involved in the mining of hard commodities.


OSK-UOB Capital Protected* World Mining Fund – Where Commodity Begins

The OSK-UOB Capital Protected* World Mining Fund (CPWMF) is a 4-year closed-end capital protected* fund which aims to provide capital appreciation over the medium term^ whilst protecting investors’ capital* on the Maturity Date.

^Note: "medium term" in this context refers to a period of 4 years.

The Fund will invest primarily in 4-year Zero Coupon Negotiable Instruments of Deposits (ZNIDs) to accord the capital protection feature of the Fund with the remainder of the capital raised invested in a 4-year over-the-counter (OTC) call option whose underlying is the World Mining Vol Target 10% Index (“WMF Option”) to generate the returns for the Fund. Any remaining cash is retained as liquid assets to defray the annual management fee.

CPWMF is suitable for investors who:
(i) have a low risk tolerance;

(ii) seek capital protection*;

(iii) seek potential returns from the exposure to the hard commodities sector; and

(iv) have a medium term horizon.


*Investors are advised that the Fund is not a guaranteed fund. This capital protected fund is protected by investments in ZNIDs and not by a guarantee. Consequently, the return of capital is SUBJECT TO the credit/default risk of the issuers of the ZNIDs and may result in losses.
(Source: OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd)