Distribution For the Financial Year ending 31 December 2008

Public Mutual will be declaring distributions its funds for the financial year ending 31 December 2008.

Distributions will be applicable to unit holders of Public Savings Fund (PSF), Public Focus Select Fund (PFSF), and Public Islamic Enhanced Bond Fund (PIEBF) respectively, who remains in the Register as at 31 December 2008.

The rate of distributions will be as below:

PSF 7.50 sen

PFSF 1.25 sen

PIEBF 1.75 sen

The continuous declaration of distributions of Public Mutual funds during this tough times is a sign of its strength in the unit trust industry.

Public Growth Fund (PGF): September 2008 Review

Public Growth Fund

Fund objective:
To achieve long-term capital appreciation with income considered incidental.

Investor's Risk Profile:
Moderate

Lipper Leaders Rating:
4 for Consistent Return
3 for Preservation
4 for Total Return

Morningstar Rating: 4 STAR
Morningstar Category: Malaysia Equity

Financial Year End: 31 July

Approved Fund Size: 4.5 billion units

Current Fund Size:
NAV: RM 557.13 million
Units: 1,345.33 million

Public Growth Fund (PGF) posted a -14.39% compared to the benchmark KLCI's -18.34% in the 6 months ending 30 September 2008. Since launched on 11th December 1984, PGF has consistently outperformed the benchmark KLCI.

The Top 5 Sectors where the PGF is invested is in:

1) Financial (34.55%)
2) Utilities (16.50%)
3) Diversified (10.41%)
4) Industrial (8.74%)
5) Consumer, Non-Cyclical (3.37%)

Top 5 Holdings

1) Public Bank (10.25% of NAV)
2) Tenaga Nasional Berhad (7.28%)
3) Boustead Holdings Berhad (5.05%)
4) Sarawak Energy Berhad (4.92%)
5) Datang International Power Generation Company Limited - H Shares (4.29%)

Asset Allocation by Country for Equities & Derivatives

1) Malaysia (79.83%)
2) China (13.25%)
3) Singapore (2.79%)
4) Taiwan (1.64%)
5) USA (1.11%)
6) Japan (0.99%)
7) Korea (0.39%)

Public Savings Fund: 3rd Quarter 08 Review

Public Savings Fund

Fund objective:
To achieve long-term capital appreciation while at the same time producing a reasonable level of income.

Investor's Risk Profile:
Moderate

Lipper Leaders Rating:
4 for Consistent Return
5 for Preservation
5 for Total Return

Morningstar Rating: 4 STAR
Morningstar Category: Malaysia Equity

Financial Year End: 31 December

Approved Fund Size: 1.5 billion units

Current Fund Size:
NAV: RM 409.14 million
Units: 656.29 million

Public Savings Fund (PSF) posted a -9.43% compared to the benchmark KLCI's -18.34% in the 6 months ending 30 September 2008. Since launched on 29th March 1981, PSF has always outperformed the benchmark KLCI.

The Top 5 Sectors where the PSF is invested is in:

1) Financial (31.18%)
2) Utilities (9.29%)
3) Communications (6.96%)
4) Industrial (6.53%)
5) Consumer, Cyclical (6.48%)

Top 5 Holdings

1) Public Bank (10.42% of NAV)
2) Bumiputra Commerce Holdings Berhad- 28/11/2008 (6.07%)
3) Tenaga Nasional Berhad (5.11%)
4) Malakoff Corporation Berhad- 30/10/2008 (4.87%)
5) Digi.Com Berhad (4.09%)

Asset Allocation by Country for Equities & Derivatives

1) Malaysia (95.24%)
2) China (4.04%)
3) Singapore (0.72%)

The Role of Trustee in Unit Trust

Trustee conduct supervisory in purchase and disposal of units, receive information throughout process, monitors and controls process, ensure procedures and processes used in UTMC are adequate and according to deeds and regulatory requirements. Or simply put it in points as below:

- Safeguard unit trust scheme’s assets

- Ensures funds are invested in accordance with deed and objectives

- Supervises the operations

- Approves and monitors all financial transactions

- Collect all incomes

Make The World A Better Place

As the world is in the midst of the worse financial crisis ever since The Great Depression, lifestyle of the people around the world has been affected (except for the few super rich), as they tried to cope with the impeding low demand and retrenchment. But what if, there are a small group of people where, they have been living in poverty all their life?

There is this landfill in Payatas, The Philippines, which is notoriously known over the world as Smokey Mountain. For over 35 years, the smoking dump site has grown to become a stark and heart-tugging reminder of the desperate conditions of humanity.

Everyday, children, as young as four years old, are forced to pick through newly arrived garbage to collect material to sell. Can you imagine? Childrens, living in a landfill and collecting garbage for a living?!..

Worse still, these earnings are not enough to even buy food for the day. So, in order to earn enough to feed everyone, the entire families are forced to climb the mountain each day, hoping to earn enough to feed everyone. On 10 July 2000, after a period of heavy rain, a trash slide occurred in the Payatas dump, claiming over 200 lives, including many children. There are over 20,000 children living on Smokey Mountain.

In response to the plight of these children, The Lighthouse Center For Children Foundation currently provides food to these underprivileged children, now numbering over 500 children daily. This figure used to be 2000 children per day, but support and donations have been getting harder and harder to obtain.

The foundation hopes to be able to feed 5000-10,000 children every day if it can raise additional funds. Besides, the foundation also embarked on a Literacy Program for the Payatas children.

Most of the children are not attending school, but helping, at their tender age, to support families. Nevertheless, these children have dreams, and surely their dreams will be anything other than keep on staying in the landfill. Sadly, their dreams are hindered by the reality of poverty and its vicious cycles.



Totedaddy has kicked off with a cash sponsorship of USD 10,000 to enable the children to celebrate Christmas. FusionExcel International has also pitched in a USD 5,000 in cash sponsorship. The money raised will help fund the projects already in place, and help fund additional projects aimed at providing better housing, and a means of livelihood for the Payatas community. Besides, footballers such as former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour and former Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe also play a role in this good cause, entertaining and inspiring these kids with their footballing techniques.

It is hoped that by creating better awareness to the plight of these children, more support can be garnered towards their betterment. Do you want to play a role in making the world a better place? Visit Christmas For Payatas. Together we can bury poverty!

Distribution For the Financial Year ending 30 November 2008

Public Mutual will be declaring distributions for the financial year ending 30 November 2008.

Distributions will be applicable to unit holders of Public Islamic Balanced Fund (PIBF) and Public Far-East Dividend Fund (PFEDF) respectively, who remain in the Register as at 30 November 2008.

The rate of distributions will be as below:

PIBF 1.00sen

PFEDF 0.35sen

The continuous declaration of distributions of Public Mutual funds during this tough times is a sign of its strength in the unit trust industry.

Most Outstanding Islamic Fund Manager Award for 2nd consecutive year

Again, Public Mutual won the Most Outstanding Islamic Fund Manager award at the 5th KLIFF (Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum) Islamic Finance Awards 2008 ceremony. This is second consecutive year that they won this award.

The award was presented by Y.B Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Minister of Finance II to Public Mutual’s Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow during the award presentation ceremony which was held on 18 November 2008 at the Istana Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

The 5th KLIFF Islamic Finance Awards 2008 is organised by The Centre for Research and Training (CERT) together with the host, Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC), and in collaboration with Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes (DJIM), the International Institute of Islamic Finance (IIIF) and Messrs Hisham, Sobri & Kadir (HSK).

Tan Sri Teh expressed pride that once again Public Mutual is bestowed this prestigous award. “This award represents the 121st award won by Public Mutual since 1999. Winning this award not only reinforces our position in the Islamic unit trust industry but also affirms our commitment to excellence,” he added. Tan Sri Teh dedicated the award to Public Mutual’s board of directors, the management, staff, agency force and the investors for their unwavering support and trust over the years.

Public Mutual is a leading player in the private Islamic unit trust fund sector in Malaysia. As at end September 2008, it manages 24 Islamic funds with total Islamic assets under management of RM8.5 billion. This represents 50.7% market share of the private Islamic unit trust industry. The company is also the most awarded Islamic unit trust fund manager in Malaysia, winning a total of 32 Islamic Fund Awards. This includes the "Best Islamic Fund Manager in Asia 2006 & 2007" awarded by Failaka Advisors, Dubai, a recognised leader in the field of Islamic fund research.

Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 67 funds under management. It has over 2,000,000 account holders serviced by over 40,000-strong unit trust consultants. As at end September 2008, the total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM24.1 billion.

Special Service Charge of 5% on All Equity Fund

Public Mutual is offering a Special Service Charge of 5% when you invest in their equity funds for a limited period. The offer period is from 3 November to 3 December, 2008.

As in my earlier post titled "Unit Trust is still the way to go", investing in unit trust is still the better choice despite the global financial crisis. In fact, this is best time to invest in unit trust. With this Special Service Charge offer, they will be bring in more funds to continue investing in value counter that had been battered down, counters that are still fundamentally strong and profitable. Investment at the current lower price will surely increase your potential earnings in the future.

Besides, this special service charge will be extended to all cash transactions (including standing instructions, Ringgit Cost Averaging instructions and switching of low-load units) into the equity funds during the said period.

This is indeed an opportune time for long term investors to take advantage of this attractive offer of lower service charge to increase their investment into the equity funds to meet their long term investment goals.

The world's most renowned investor Warren Buffett had in his recent article titled
'Buy American. I Am" published on 16 October 2008 in the New York Times, quoted the following in explaining why he began to invest heavily in stocks: -

“I can't predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven't the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower in a month - or a year – from now. What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.”

Public Mutual: Distribution For the Financial Year ending 31 October 2008

For the financial year ending 31 October 2008, Public Mutual declared final distributions to two of their funds, namely Public Industry Fund (PIF), Public Islamic Bond Fund (PIBOND) and Public Equity Fund (PEF)

Unitholders of these 3 funds, who remain in the Register as at 31 October 2008 will be entitled to this distributions.

The rates of the distributions are as follow

Public Industry Fund (PIF)
7.50 sen per unit

Public Islamic Bond Fund (PIBOND)
4.00 sen per unit

Public Equity Fund (PEF)
5.00 sen per unit

Unit Trust is still the way to go!

At the current level of the KLCI, anyone who had bought unit trust in the past one year must have been feeling jittery right now. Generally, it has dropped off 20% of the value when they bought one year ago. So what now? Is it time to redeem for cash now?

Well, this question depends on the individual. If you need this money, of course you are forced to sell off your unit trust. Or maybe you have some investment ideas, or you foresee some great chances to increase your earning, by all means, sell off your units. Do not risk incurring opportunity cost.

But, if you sell off your unit trusts just to keep in the savings account, then the answer to the question above is a definite NO! The reasons are simple:

1) You suffer losses by selling off your unit trusts at current price.
2) You denied yourself a chance to recover back your losses.
3) Your money will lose out to the effect of inflation.

Investing in unit trust can be ANYTIME. Yes, even during the current financial crisis, as long as you are doing dollar cost average. Dollar cost averaging is a concept to minimize your risk, especially during the current crisis.

Of course it is possible that after you buy in, the price will continue to drop off. But with dollar cost average, you are picking up units at price lower than your 1st time to purchase, therefore covering your losses from your 1st investment.

Unless you are a stock market expert, normal people can never know exactly when the market will rebound, but we do know that historically, everything that fall down will climb back up again! So pick up the units gradually when the market is low (though no one knows whether this is the bottom or not).

For those who invested lump-sum and suffering paper loss now, if you don't need the money now, DON'T SELL. Unit trust has a better chance of recovering, with medium risk.

Consider this, even during this crisis, there are still investor buying into unit trust. These money enable the fund manager to do bottom-fishing, accumulate stocks at low price, and this will enable the funds to recover their price more swiftly when the market recover.

If you are buying into a blue chip stock, can you have this privileged? NO! Not at all, you can only hope it reached the price above your buying price, provided that the company's earnings and prospects remained positive. What if the counter you bought do another Transmile (a former blue chip counter who drop from RM13 to the current 55 sen at time of publishing)?

Therefore, unit trust remain the best bet for the general public to invest in, especially during the current crisis where we can get more units at less price.

What is your Risk Profile?

Answer each of the following 12 questions. Take as long as you like, there is no time limit. For the multiple choice questions, try and choose the answer that is closest to your circumstances.

1. When you hear unexpected adverse or bad financial news, you
A. never overreact
B. rarely overreact
C. always overreact


2. Between a new position offering greater job security with small pay rise, and another, with a high pay rise but less job security, which would you select?
A. Probably higher pay rise
B. Not sure
C. Probably greater job security


3. Would you borrow money or go on margin trading to make an investment that might double your money
A. Yes
B. Maybe
C. No


4. If you have invested in a stock that rose 30% within 6 months after you bought it, you would
A. do nothing or buy more shares
B. sell some shares
C. sell all your shares

5. Do you believe luck is important in making your investment decisions?
A. Yes
B. Sometimes
C. No

6. If you could increase your chances of improving your returns by taking more risk, you would be
A. willing to take a lot more risk with all your money
B. willing to take some risk with some of you money
C. unwilling to take much more risk

7. What percentage of your household income (after tax) is spent each month paying off credit card bills, car payments and either on rent or mortgage payments?
A. More than 50%
B. Between 25% and 50%
C. Less than 25%

8. In case of an emergency, you would have available savings to pay for
A. less than 3 months' living expenses
B. 3-12 months' living expenses
C. more than 12 months' living expenses

9. Would you invest in a stock based on a friend's tip?
A. Yes
B. Maybe
C. No

10. Which of the following statement best describes your feelings about investment risk?
A. I prefer to select an aggressive mix of investment - some that have a low degree of risk, but with emphasis on others that have a higher degree of risk that may yield greater returns
B. I prefer to select a balanced mix - some that have a low degree of risk, others that have a higher degree of risk that may yield greater returns
C. I prefer to select a mix of investment with emphasis on those with a low degree of risk and a small portion in others that have a higher degree of risk that may yield greater returns

11. Do you expect your future earnings over the next five years to:
A. increase
B. stay the same
C. decrease

12. Would you invest in individual stocks or equity (stock-based) unit trust?
A. Yes
B. Maybe
C. No


You are a Moderate Investor (20-30)

As a Moderate Investor, you are most comfortable with a combination of low and high-risk investments in your portfolio. Bear in mind that you will need to take some degree of risk to receive greater reward. You will require an investment strategy that will cope with the effects of inflation. Most of all, you will not worry excessively about your investments when the market drops because you know that the potential for long-term capital growth means riding out the dips. Your allocation of your assets should be equally distributed among equity, balanced, and bond funds.


You are an Aggressive Investor (31-36)

As an Aggressive Investor, you are very comfortable with high-risk investments in your portfolio. You have no qualms about taking risk and in fact, you seek the greatest reward for every ringgit invested. You know that there will be potential for gains but also know that there will be potential for loss as well. You will have no problems with investing a major portion of your assets in equity funds, and a minor portion of your assets in balanced and bond funds

You are a Conservative Investor (12-20)

As a Conservative Investor, you are most comfortable with low-risk investments in your portfolio. You will only take the risk if your principal amount of investment is protected and incur interest from there. But bear in mind that your investments may not outpace inflation as the returns are considerably lower. Your best bet would be investing a majority of your assets in bond funds, and consider allocating a small percentage to both balanced and equity funds.

For calculation,

3 points for every question that you answered A.

2 points for every question that you answered B.

1 point for every question that you answered C.

Credit Card: A necessity in today's world

In today's world of globalization and internet business, credit card has become a necessity to most people, for credit card bring about convenience to all of us! With only one card in hand, our purchasing need can be fulfilled all around the world!

But in recent time, credit card has been misused, thus creating negative implications to the users. Everyone, whether existing users or those planning to get one, must bear in mind that credit card is meant to bring you convenience, not excessive spending without limit. If everyone practiced responsible spending, credit card will be one of the best tools in this era.

There are many types of credit card offered by almost all the banks, some in collaboration with airline or hypermarket. So how do we determine which card to apply for? In this age of internet, besides obtaining more information from the “physical” bank itself, we can also obtain the latest and most attractive offers from online credit card search. We can even apply credit card online!

And if you are in the U.S, Yourcreditnetwork.com is one site you must refer to. It offer such comprehensive information on credit card, from Low Interest Credit Cards, Student Credit Cards to Bad Credit Cards. Yes, you did not get me wrong, this site even list out Credit Cards that are considered bad, and all the cards were given rating and review.

Besides, this site also specializes on informing consumers about credit card offers, how to use credit wisely, and occasionally posts humorous insights into the wacky world of credit. What’s world without a little bit of humor? So if you are looking for information on credit cards without the usual dullness, this site is especially for you!

Public Mutual: Distribution For the Financial Year ending 31 August 2008

Public Mutual will be declaring a Final Distribution of 8 sen per unit to unit holders of Public SmallCap Fund, who remain in the register as at 31 August 2008.

Public SmallCap Fund is the winner of The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards 2008, in the category "Best Equity Malaysia Small and Mid Caps Fund, 5 years". Besides, Public SmallCap Fund is also rated 5 Star by Morningstar Rating™.

The designated Fund Managers for this fund are Lum Ming Jang and Tan Yan Heong, who is also involve in other Award Winning Fund.

Since launched back in 2000, it has consistently out-performed the Benchmark Index of KLCI, making a total return of 176.65% compared to the 44.15% of the benchmark. Its distribution of 8 sen out performed the 12-month FD rate of 3.8%. During the current situation of high inflation, this is particularly important to curb inflation!

IPSERVERONE Hosting Services: Reliable, unbeatable support!

When you are looking for web hosting services, what are the criteria that you are looking for? Generally, the most important criteria has to be reliable and support!

Reliable means that there are no unexpected service down or unavailable, which affect whatever u planned to do. And support is essential whenever you get into trouble, as they will assist you to solved your problem. So if you are looking for web hosting services that match these two criteria, look no further. IPSERVERONE is the solution.

IPSERVERONE is a Malaysia web hosting service provider which specializes in hosting, whether it is e-mail, databases, application driven websites, corporate sites or even large multi user forums. Bundle with powerful features to help manage your web portal, it offer everything that you'll need starting from RM149/year.

Feed back from bloggers and forum has been positive,and they have notable clients too! They are Petronas, U Mobile, Fuji Xerox, Lowyat.net, Advertlets and lots more. You can also visit their client section, or read Testimonials by satisfied clients. To get to know more about their diverse range of services and clients who rely on IPSERVERONE for their web hosting needs, visit their site now!

Double launch by Public Mutual

Public Mutual launched two new Islamic funds, Public Islamic Select Enterprises Fund (PISEF) and Public Islamic Income Fund (PI INCOME) on 14 August 2008 (Thursday).

PISEF is suitable for investors who wish to participate in the long-term growth potential of Shariah-compliant bellweather companies in the domestic market. PISEF is an aggressive Islamic equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth through investment in the largest 50 companies in term of market capitalisation (at the point of purchase) listed on Bursa Securities which comply with Shariah requirements. Among the strong points of this fund:

Largest in terms of market capitalisation.

Well-diversified portfolio with reputable track records.

Resilient growth prospects due to company size and entrenched market share.

Strong financial resources to withstand challenging economic conditions.

Complies with Shariah requirements for peace of mind.

Special promotional service charge* for cash investment during offer period from 14 August - 3 September 2008.

*Promotional service charge of 5% of Initial Offer Price per unit during offer period.

Category of Fund: Equity Fund (Shariah)
Approved Fund Size: 1.5 Billion Units
Launch Date: 14 August 2008
Investor's Risk Profile: Aggressive
Fund Objective:
To achieve capital growth through investments in the largest 50 companies in terms of market capitalisation (at the point of purchase) listed on Bursa Securities which comply with Shariah requirements.



PI INCOME caters for those seeking a steady stream of annual income. Both funds are open for EPF Members Investment Scheme. PI INCOME is an Islamic fixed income fund that seeks to provide annual income over the medium- to long-term period by investing in sukuk and Islamic money market instruments. The fund will invest up to a maximum of 60% of its NAV in sukuk in the domestic market. The balance of the fund’s NAV will be invested in Islamic money market instruments.

Category of Fund: Fixed Income Fund (Shariah)
Approved Fund Size: 500 million units
Launch Date: 14 August 2008
Investor's Risk Profile: Conservative
Fund Objective:
To provide annual income over the medium to long-term period by investing in sukuk and Islamic money market instruments.

The Initial Offer Price of PISEF and PI INCOME is at RM0.25 per unit and RM1 respectively during the 21-day initial offer period of 14 August 2008 to 3 September 2008. The minimum initial investment for both funds is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

Public Mutual: Distribution for FYE 31 July 2008

Public Mutual declares distributions for the financial year ended 31 July 2008 for four of its funds. The distributions declared are as follows:

Public Growth Fund- 10.00 sen

Public Bond Fund- 5.00 sen

Public Islamic Opportunities Fund- 4.00 sen

Public Islamic Select Bond Fund- 1.50 sen

Public Growth Fund and Public Bond Fund are the winners of The Morningstar 2007 Fund Awards (Malaysia), and have generated five-year returns of 85.14% and 24.41% respectively for the period ended 11 July 2008, according to The Edge-Lipper Fund Table dated 21 July 2008. Public Bond Fund is also the winner of The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards 2008.

Meanwhile, Public Islamic Opportunities Fund which was ranked No. 1 for its three-year returns has generated a return of 59.70% for the same period in its category.

Public Capital Protected Select Portfolio Fund (PCPSPF)

Public Mutual unveils new capital protected fund, Public Capital Protected Select Portfolio Fund (PCPSPF) on 29 July 2008 (Tuesday), with exposure in gold and oil & gas related sectors.

The fund allows investors to enjoy capital protection upon maturity of the fund while participating in the upside growth potential of the gold and oil & gas related sectors.

While PCPSPF being a 100% capital protected fund, it also provides investors with the additional benefit of participating in the upside potential of the gold and oil & gas sectors as well as hedge part of their investments against inflation.

Gold has always been perceived as a hedge against rising inflation as gold provides a stable store of value amidst uncertainties in financial assets. Investing in the oil & gas sector is also a hedge against the current cycle of inflation which was fuelled by the uptrend in oil prices in recent years.

At least 85% of its net asset value (NAV) will be invested in Ringgit-denominated zero-coupon negotiable instrument of deposits (ZNIDs) and liquid investments comprising high quality debentures and money market instruments. The balance of the fund’s NAV will be invested in a portfolio of exchange traded funds (ETFs), equities and equity-related securities of gold and oil & gas related sectors.

The Initial Offer Price of PCPSPF is at RM0.9901 per unit during the 45-day initial offer period of 29 July 2008 to 11 September 2008. The service charge is at RM0.0099 per unit, which is 1% of the NAV of the fund during offer period.

PCPSPF is a closed-end fund, the units will only be sold during Offer Period. The minimum investment for the fund is RM1,000. The Maturity Date is on 21 September 2011 or earlier if the fund is fully sold before 11 September 2008.

Launch Date: 29 July 2008

Approved Fund Size: 300 million units

Financial Year End: 31 August

Fund Objective:
Seeks to achieve capital appreciation over the tenure of the Fund while providing capital protection upon maturity of the Fund.

Risk Profile of Fund: Low risk

Investor Profile: Conservative

Investment Strategy:
PCPSPF will invest at least 85% of its NAV in Ringgit-denominated zero-coupon negotiable instrument of deposits (ZNIDs) and liquid investments comprising high quality debentures and money market instruments. The balance of the Fund’s NAV will be invested in exchange trade funds (ETFs), equities and equity-related securities in gold and oil and gas related sectors.

Targeted Market to Invest:
Fund will invest in the domestic market and selected foreign markets which include the United States of America, Europe, Japan, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, India, Indonesia and other approved markets.

Benchmark: 12-month Malaysian Fixed Deposit Rate quoted by Public Bank Berhad.

Principal Risks: Interest rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, currency risk and country risk.

Trustee AmanahRaya Trustees Berhad (766894-T)

Designated Fund Managers: Mr. Tan Yan Heong and Ms. Chen Yuet Fong

Tenure/Maturity Date: 3 years/3rd anniversary of the Commencement Date.

Repurchase Charge per Unit Redemption request made before Maturity Date :
1.5% of NAV per unit

The Award Lists just get longer for Public Mutual.

On June 30, 2008, Public Mutual received the BrandLaureate Award 2008 in the Financial Services - Investment Funds Category. This is the second consecutive year the company is awarded the prestigious accolade which is presented to the best brands from various industries in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region. Public Mutual director Dato’ Lee Kong Lam accepted the award on the company’s behalf during the awards ceremony at Sunway Resort Hotel.

Winner for the awards were selected based on a points system covering brand strategy, brand culture, integrated brand communications, brand equity and brand performance. Public Mutual’s parent company, Public Bank, also won the award for brand excellence in the Financial Services – Banking & Finance Category at the same awards ceremony.

Public Far-East Telco & Infrastructure Fund (PFETIF)

Public Mutual will launch its first regional telecommunications and infrastructure fund, Public Far-East Telco & Infrastructure Fund (PFETIF)on 8 July 2008 (this coming Tuesday).

PFETIF enables investors to participate in the rollout of infrastructure services to meet the growing needs of the Far-East region. In recent years much has been said about improving the telecommunication sectors, with Wimax and Wireless network being implemented to create a society that can obtain information anytime anywhere.

Besides, to ensure that infrastructure services are adequate to support their growth, Asian economies will continue to invest in the infrastructure sector over the medium to long term. For example in Malaysia, the electrified double tracking railway project between Padang Besar and Ipoh (a joint venture project between Gamuda and MMC Corporation), and the 2nd Penang bridge.

Based on a CLSA Asia Pacific Markets report, “Ramping Up Asia’s Infrastructure Stimulus, March 2008”, Asian countries are expected to spend an estimated US$1.8 trillion on construction of roads, railways, power plants, telecommunications and other infrastructure projects over the 5-year period until 2012.

Infrastructure assets also offer positive long-term prospects as the underlying cash flows of concession companies are usually stable and linked to an inflation index through a negotiated pricing formula. Following the retracement in regional equity markets for the year to date, selected telecommunications and infrastructure stocks are currently trading at valuations that are below their longterm average.

PFETIF mainly investing in securities, mainly equities, in the telecommunications, infrastructure, and utilities sector in Far-East markets. Up to 98% of PFETIF’s net asset value (NAV) can be invested in selected foreign markets which include South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and other approved markets. PFETIF will looking to profit into the long-term growth potential of a portfolio of regional stocks in sectors which include telecommunications, construction, building materials, expressways, transportation, water works, infrastructure and utilities.

The equity exposure of PFETIF will generally range from 75% to 90% of its NAV.

Risk Profile: Aggressive

Initial offer price: RM0.2500 per unit

Offer period: 8 July 2008 to 28 July 2008.

During the offer period, a special promotional service charge of 5% of NAV per unit is extended to the purchase of units of PFETIF by investors. Normal service charge rate is at 5.45%.

Fixed Deposits have Risks too!

Most people thought that putting money in Fixed Deposits is the safest way to keep money growing and it is risks-free. Though I would agree that FDs is one of the safer way to keep your capital, I disagree that FD actually help your money grow, and surely it is not risks free.

And the risks involve is Inflation Risks. With the current FD rate of 3%, putting your money in your FD is actually making it depreciating, though it give the false impression that it actually appreciating with the interest given. Figure wise, yes, it is appreciating, as the bank give out interest to FDs, and the balance figure keep increasing with the interest added. Value wise, No! It is not appreciating, instead it is depreciating as inflation reach 5%. The money you put into the FDs is actually depreciating at a rate of 2%.

So if you think there is putting your money in FDs alone is enough as it is the safest way, better think again!

Inflation

With the recent hike of petrol prices in the country, one of the inevitable result from it is: Inflation.

With a hike of 41% in petrol prices, no doubt the inflation rate in the country will also rise. Economist are predicting inflation rate of the country will rise to 5%. Not too bad considering there are also significant increase in rice prices. But what most of us didn't noticed is that, everyone's inflation rate is different. This 5% is not applied to every Malaysian in the country. This 5% is the average of the whole country.

That means, if you are living in the capital or big city, your inflation will definitely be more than 5%. Why? Actually you can actually measure your own inflation by jotting down your expenses for this year, and compare the amount with your expenses next year. A month by month comparison will be unnecessary as there will not be much of a difference between this month and next month. I now give an example on how to calculate.

Let's say you drink a cup of coffee everyday. The price now is RM1.00. For 365 days, you will spend RM365 / year. After this petrol hike, assuming the price increases RM0.20, so now the price for one cup is RM1.20. For 365 days, the cost is RM438, an increase of RM73. This increase is 20%, therefore your inflation is 20%, way above the national value of 5%.

This is just a single item example. If you add up your every expenses, more often that the percentage will be even higher, as normally prices of products keep going up!

Another Socially Responsible Action Taken by Public Bank Group

Public Bank on behalf of its wholly-owned subsidiary Public Mutual Berhad contributed RM200,000 to help the victims of the devastated Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

This contribution will go towards the relief efforts of rebuilding the life of those affected by the natural disaster.

The contribution is presented by Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow, through MERCY Malaysia at Menara Public Bank today.

Tan Sri Teh added that this contribution is in line with the corporate social responsibility programmes or CSR of the Public Bank Group to help deserving communities and needy.

The Public Bank Group's CSR programmes include efforts and projects in key areas such as nation building, education, environmental conservation and health care. The Public Bank Group works with the Malaysian government and non-profit organisations in various community projects.

Public Mutual has more than 35,000 agents throughout Malaysia to sell and distribute its funds. As at 30 April 2008, the total net asset value of the funds managed by Public Mutual was RM27.8 billion.

Public Mutual reaching out to help

Every company has a responsible to the society, and Public Mutual is doing his part. Public Mutual Bhd contributed RM300,000 to earthquake victims in Sichuan Province.

The contribution will go towards efforts of rebuilding the life of those affected by the devastating May 12 disaster.

The donation was presented by the founder and chairman of Public Bank and chairman of Public Mutual, Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow to Mercy Malaysia at Menara Public Bank in Kuala Lumpur.

Public Mutual: Distributions for Financial Year End May 2008

For Financial Year End May 2008, Public Mutual is declaring Final Distributions for 7 of its funds, namely

1) Public Balanced Fund (PBF) - 5.00 sen

2) Public Ittikal Fund (P Ittikal) - 5.00 sen

3) Public Islamic Equity Fund (PIEF) - 1.50 sen

4) Public Dividend Select Fund (PDSF) - 1.50 sen

5) Public Far-East Select Fund (PFES) - 1.50 sen

6) Public Regional Sector Fund (PRSEC) - 1.50 sen

7) Public Select Bond Fund (PSBF) - 4.00 sen

For Funds numbered 1-6, there were interim distributions declared on 30 November 2007. Therefore, the total distributions declared of the funds for the year are

1) Public Balanced Fund (PBF) - 15.00 sen

2) Public Ittikal Fund (P Ittikal) - 15.00 sen

3) Public Islamic Equity Fund (PIEF) - 6.50 sen

4) Public Dividend Select Fund (PDSF) - 5.25 sen

5) Public Far-East Select Fund (PFES) - 5.50 sen

6) Public Regional Sector Fund (PRSEC) - 5.00 sen

Public Mutual: The 5 Star Funds rated by Morningstar Rating™

These days, rating has become so important to the extent that rating can seriously affect the sales of a certain product. So now I will like to list out the funds rated 5 Star (which is the maximum) rated by Morningstar Rating™, and their fund managers for the excellent jobs in making these funds profitable to the extent of 5 Star.

Public Aggressive Growth Fund (PAGF)
Designated Fund Managers:
Tan Yan Heong
Lum Peck Woon

Public Equity Fund (PEF)
Designated Fund Managers:
Tan Yan Heong
Lum Peck Woon

Public Growth Fund (PGF)
Designated Fund Managers:
Tan Yan Heong
Lum Peck Woon

Public Regular Savings Fund (PRSF)
Designated Fund Managers:
Tan Yan Heong
Chen Yuet Fong

Public Smallcap Fund (P SmallCap)
Designated Fund Managers:
Lum Ming Jang
Tan Yan Heong

Public Enhanced Bond (PEBF)
Designated Fund Managers:
Chan Kam Khoon
Chiang Kang Pey

Public Mutual: Best in Asia

These days there are so many awards to be won. For example in the entertainment industry, there are American Idol, then come the Superstar and other talent quests contests, and some I feel is substandard.

So no doubt when there are announcements on someone won some award, I feel skeptical and will run a background check on the reputation of the award.

So when Public Mutual Bhd has been named “Best Fund Manager in Asia” for the second consecutive year by Dubai-based Failaka Advisors, I look up on Failaka Advisors.

Failaka Advisors was founded in 1996, and has offices in Chicago and Dubai. Failaka Advisors is the recognized leader in Islamic fund research, offering institutions and private investors the largest and most detailed database of information on Shariah-compliant equity funds worldwide.

Failaka also recognizes the best-performing of the world's Islamic investment funds at its annual Failaka Islamic Fund Awards, the premier global event for recognizing excellence in Islamic investment and money management.

On Public Mutual being named Best Fund Manager in Asia, Failaka Advisors managing director Mark Smyth said, “In terms of syariah-compliant funds, Public Mutual's funds have once again outperformed the benchmarks by the highest percentages." In this sense, I believe Public Mutual truly deserved this award. Public Mutual was also named Most Outstanding Islamic Fund Manager at KLIFF Islamic Finance Awards.

So after receiving two awards, no doubt Public Mutual is the Best Islamic Fund Manager.

Types of Unit Trust

Recently I attended a workshop organized by the Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC), titled "Elevating Financial Planning Literacy of Malaysians". As the Unit Trust Industry in Malaysia gets more complex and varied, it has become harder to actually classified the types of Unit Trust. But according to MFPC, the types of Unit Trust can be divided into four, namely

Equity Fund
Equity Fund primarily invests in equities or shares of listed companies, both locally or overseas, or both.

Balanced Fund
Balanced Fund invests in a range of asset classes with an objective to diversify risks. It may invest in a combination of cash, equity, fixed income and property, both locally and overseas.

Islamic Fund
Islamic Fund invests in a portfolio that complies with Syariah principles.

Specialty Fund
Specialty Fund may invests in a single industry, specific geographical area or particular class of investments. Examples of these funds are Public Far East Consumer Theme Fund (single industry), Public China Select Fund (specific geographical area), and Public China Titan Fund (particular class).

PIDF, PFEBF and PIADF: Declaration of Distribution

For the Financial Year ending 30 April 2008, Public Mutual will be declaring Distribution to unit holders of Public Islamic Dividend Fund (PIDF), Public Far-East Balanced Fund (PFEBF)and Public Islamic Asia Dividend Fund (PIADF).

For PIDF, the Gross Distribution is 2.00 sen per unit. The Fund's Objective and Policy is to provide income by investing in a portfolio of stocks that complies with Shariah requirements and which offer or have the potential to offer attractive dividend yields.

For PFEBF, the Gross Distribution is 1.75 sen per unit. The Fund's Objective and Policy is to provide income and capital growth over the medium to long-term period.

For PIADF, the Gross Distribution is 0.40 sen per unit. The Fund's Objective and Policy is to provide income by investing in a portfolio of stocks in domestic and regional markets that complies with Shariah requirements and which offer or have the potential to offer attractive dividend yields.

“Failing to Plan = Planning to Fail”?

What is Financial Planning?

Financial Planning is really simple, and no different from planning for a day out. You will only need to think of the 3 points below:

1) Knowing where you are now,
2) Where do you want to go and
3) How to get there.

1st of all, we need to know what are our current resources, our financial goals and how to achieve them in the most effective and efficient manner. Financial Planning is important to everyone, not only to the rich, and especially the not-so-rich. Ya, you get me right! Especially the not-so-rich! If you are rich, you still can afford to be complacent and get away with it. A not-so-rich, if don’t carefully plan and implement with discipline, you will suffer at the end of the road.

Money may not be the most important thing in life, but nevertheless, you can’t live without it! Every single thing revolves around money, even when I sit in the room and switch on my laptop (you will still need electricity to run your laptop, and you’ll have to pay for your electricity).

Financial Planning is a systematic way of organizing our financial affairs in the most effective and efficient manner in order to achieve our Life Goals.

Financial Planning actually help us to understand our Wants and Needs. Our Wants are infinite, but unfortunately, our resources are finite! There is always Trade-Offs or Sacrifices to be made.

Besides, it helps us to cope with difficult times. The only constant in life is Change and learning to cope with changes early will be a plus point! If one day, unfortunately you lose your job, can the money you save let you live your life on until you get your next job? If not, how can you save enough for that? You don’t save any money? OMG!

Also, with a financial plan in place, creating wealth will not be big fuss. Wealth creation is not a sprint but a marathon, as it takes time, discipline and a lot of financial stamina. With the help of a qualified investment advisor, you can have the most appropriate investments that suit our risk appetite to achieve our desired goals. In the current market, there are many investments available for you to choose. By adopting various investment strategies and proper Asset Allocation, slowly but surely, you will get your 1st pot of gold!

Tech Ed SEA 2008!

Tech Ed SEA is back! Dubbed as the conference for "geek", Tech Ed SEA 2007 was an enormous success as there were more partners, sponsors and delegates who took part in that event.

And now! Tech Ed 2008 is back to KLCC Convention Centre again this year on 11-14 August. There is an early bird ticket of RM699. While RM699 is surely not a small amount for the average people like me, but when it comes to whether it is worthy or not, surely there are people who consider it as worthy, while some people will say "it's madness", as everyone has different category to evaluate.

With waves of products launch this year (i.e. Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, Windows Mobile 6.1) it is guaranteed it will generate a lot of interests from all walks of people from the industry.

If you some how miss the Tech·Ed 2008 in KLCC, no worry! You can still attend the one in Sydney!Microsoft Australia's Tech·Ed 2008 will be held in Sydney from the 2nd to 5th September 2008 at the Sydney Convention Centre, Darling Harbour.

Review: The week ended 18/4/2008

The KLCI rose as selected plantation and oil & gas-related stocks rose on continued firmness in crude palm oil prices and record oil prices. Sentiment was also lifted by the rebound in U.S. equity markets towards the end of the week. The KLCI closed a 6-week high of 1,267.6 points for a gain of 1.7% for the week.

Average daily trading volume during the week remained unchanged at 0.5 billion units while average trading value fell to RM1.1 billion from RM1.4 billion in the preceding week.
On Wall Street, the Dow rose to the highest in three months as the latest set of 1Q2008 corporate profits for selected stocks were better-than-expected. The Dow rose by 4.3% to 12,849 points while the Nasdaq closed higher by 4.9% to 2,403 points over the week.

The U.S. headline inflation rate was sustained at 4% in March. However, the core inflation inched up to 2.4% in March from 2.3% in February on higher housing and transportation costs. U.S. retail sales growth decelerated to 0.1%in March from 7.1% in February due to lower sales of vehicles and furniture. U.S. housing starts contracted by 11.9% month-on-month to a 17-year low of 947,000 units in March after declining by 0.7% in February.

Crude oil prices rose to a record high of US$116.70/brl on 18th April to register a weekly gain of 5.9% on concerns that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) would not increase oil supplies. OPEC's next meeting will be on 9 September 2008.

On the local front, manufacturing sales growth rose to 21.1% in February from 15.8% in January on higher sales of refined petroleum products. Malaysia’s foreign reserves decreased by RM8.6bil in the last two weeks of March to RM384.7bil as at 31st March 2008 compared to an increase of RM9.1bil in the first two weeks of March. The decline in reserves was due to the quarterly adjustment of foreign exchange revaluation losses as the Ringgit strengthened against major currencies in 1Q2008.

The Ringgit registered a weekly gain of 0.3% against the U.S. dollar to close at a 1-week high of RM3.142. On a year-to-date basis, the Ringgit has appreciated by 5.6% against the greenback.

Source: Public Mutual Market Wrap

The Power of Perception

Sometimes I just feel ridiculous how perception can overpower substance so easily. Have you noticed?

KLCI surges 12.38 pts. The reason? Asian markets rallied, notching gains of between 1.75% and 2.49%, as investors’ sentiment was boosted by the strong close on Wall Street last week, ignoring the record high price of US$117 (RM367.61) earlier.

Light crude oil was trading at US$116.60, off the record high of US$117 while crude palm oil futures fell RM93 to RM3,460 per tonne. Malaysian tin price hit a new high of US$21,560 per tonne due to the record London Metal Exchange prices and firm demand.

Commodities are still at all time high. But the perception of the people changed. They feel more optimistic by Google's better than expected quarter earnings. It is as if that suddenly the US economy is going strong again, therefore Wall Street close strongly, Asian market all follow suit. This sudden optimism (or pessimism) can really make a hell of a difference.

Significant Review for Week ended 11/4/2008

Consumer confidence in the U.S. as measured by the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to a 26-year low of 63.2 in April from 69.5 in March on concerns over the job market and rising inflationary pressures.

U.S. export growth rose to 20.8% in February from 16.7% in January as the weaker dollar made U.S. products more competitive. However, import growth accelerated to 16.4% in February from 12.4% in January over the same period. As imports outpaced exports,the cumulative trade deficit for the first two months of 2008 widened to US$121.3 billion from a deficit of US$115.6 in the same period last year.

Crude oil prices rose to a record high of US$110.87/barrel on Wednesday on renewed concerns over a weak US dollar and tight oil supplies before easing to close at US$110.14/barrel to register a weekly gain of 3.7%.

On the regional front, China’s export growth accelerated to 30.6% in March from 6.5% in February due to increased exports to U.S. and Hong Kong. However, import growth eased to 24.6% from 35.1% over the same period. China’s cumulative trade surplus for 1Q2008 narrowed by 10.5% to US$41.4 billion compared to the same period last year.

On the local front, industrial production growth eased to 6.3% in February from a revised 7.6% in January on slower manufacturing activities amidst lower electronics orders from the U.S. Due to the weakening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies, the Ringgit registered a weekly gain of 1.3% against the U.S. dollar to close at RM3.151.

5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Public China Titan Fund (PCTF)!

1) Stablility
Larger corporations are better positioned to weather economic cycles due to their sheer size, stronger cash flows and dominance in their respective industries. Thus, an equity fund that focuses on large cap stocks can potentially offer attractive long-term capital growth by investing in large companies with strong track records. Due to their size, these companies are able to weather the impact of tougher economic conditions compared to their smaller counterparts.

2)Foreign Direct Investment
The Greater China region has benefited from significant inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI) with China accounting for the largest share. Thanks to its industrialisation drive, total FDI into China amounted to US$529.5 billion over the past ten years. Almost half of China's exports are currently produced by these foreign-owned enterprises. Investment spending, which accounts for 41% of China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), has been growing at a robust pace of 20% per annum over the 2003-2006 period.


3)Major Importer and Exporter
Exports have been a major source of growth for the greater China economies. Hong Kong, Taiwan and China are among the most export-driven economies with exports contributing 167%, 63% and 36% to their GDPs respectively in 2006. China is a major destination for Asian exports with two thirds of China's imports sourced from Asia.

4)Consumer Spending
Higher standards of living have fuelled consumer spending in the region. In China, domestic consumer spending grew at a healthy rate of 14.1% per annum in the last four years. Consumer spending has been supported by the rising trend of urbanisation in Chinese cities with the urban population ratio increasing from 26.4% in 1990 to 43.9% in 2006.

5)Low Interest Rates
China enjoys a low real interest rate environment which is conducive for consumer spending and investments. Despite the recent monetary tightening measures by the central bank, real interest rates in China have continued to remain low at 0.8% currently.

The macroeconomic factors that contributed to the rapid growth of the greater China region are expected to continue driving the region's economic prospects in the medium-to long-term. The combined nominal GDP of the Greater China region's is estimated at US$3.2 trillion in 2006 accounting for 6.7% of global GDP and 34.3% of the Far East region's GDP.

Due to their significant revenues and strong share performance in the past year, three listed Chinese companies are currently among the top ten largest companies in the world based on market capitalisation (Source: Bloomberg, February 2008). These three companies are Petrochina Company Ltd., China Mobile Ltd. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

Petrochina Company Ltd., with a market capitalisation of US$576.7 billion as at 21 February 2008, has become the largest listed company in the world after its listing on the Shanghai stock exchange in November 2007.


Source from: http://www.publicmutual.com.my/page.aspx?name=article_080404_1045_pg01

Dividend and Growth- Domestically

Today is the launch date of Public Islamic Optimal Growth Fund(PIOGF), which capitalise on dividend and growth stocks in the domestic market.

Many may ask why at this stage Public Mutual launched a domestic fund, when the political landscape of the country is still uncertain. The Bursa had drop significantly since the election, and many uncertainty still to come as the new state government in 5 states are in the process of reviewing the projects, introduced by the previous government, in their respective states. But while share prices keep on changing everyday, the fundamental of a company will not change overnight, which make this fund relevant to any investor.

First of all, if the state government will not stop a project that benefit the people, as they are much more eager to please everyone as they are new. If eventually a project is stop by the state government, that means it is not a beneficial project, which carry the meaning that, even though the project is carried out completely, it will not do well. Logical right?

PIOGF invests 50% of its equity investment in Shariah-compliant growth stocks in the domestic market while the remaining 50% of its equity investment is invested in Shariah-compliant stocks which offer attractive dividend yields.

The growth stock here, at the current price, can point to some of the blue chips. Counters like Tenaga and Sime have in recent time drop of so drastically that, when the political landscape become certain, they will get back to their normal level, which is almost 30% more of the current price.

As for stocks which offer attractive dividend yields, there are aplenty in our Bursa. One point need to be highlighted is that, Malaysian economy is NOT doing badly at the moment (as the record dividend declared by the listed companies show), therefore the current low pricing on the stocks are merely caused by perception, not fundamental.

PIOGF is a capital growth and income fund that is suitable for medium to long-term investors with aggressive risk-reward temperaments. PIOGF distributes annual income to the investors on a best effort basis.

Distribution for PAGF and PRSF

Public Mutual declares distribution for 2 funds, namely Public Aggressive Growth Fund(PAGF) and Public Regular Savings Fund(PRSF) for financial year ended 31 March 2008. The distribution detail is as below

Public Aggressive Growth Fund - Gross distribution of 15.00 sen per unit
Public Regular Savings Fund - Gross distribution of 10.00 sen per unit

Public Aggressive Growth Fund generated a five-year return of 150.8%, while Public Regular Savings Fund generated a five-year return of 119.2% respectively for the period ended 7 March 2008, according to The Edge-Lipper Fund Table dated 17 March 2008.

What about the KLCI during this period? KLCI registered a gain of 103.9% for the same period. That means these funds have outperformed the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI). So if your investment in shares can't beat the performance of these 2 funds, you should seriously think of quitting the stock market,as you have lose out to another person who did nothing other than just buy unit trusts, while you have spent time and energy to choose the right counter to buy, trying to earn more but to no avail.

Public China Titans Fund (PCTF) : Capitalise on China’s large-cap stocks growth prospects

Public China Titans Fund (PCTF) was launched on 1 April 2008. It was April Fool's Day, but this is no joke. This fund offer a huge potential to be the best performing fund in the coming years. The logic? The current uncertainty in the market, particularly the US market.

The current credit crunch in US had actually sink the entire US financial market. Citibank lose its status as the world biggest bank (to ICBC),and also needed the injections of funds from Arab countries. Other notable banks are not exempted either. Bank of America, Merrill Lynch are all in deep shit now.

So the situation looks bad, why still want to invest in this fund? Actually when there are uncertainty, there are great bargain. The problem in these US banks is too big a hole that a certain Arab country or the US government cannot overturn. The proactive measures taken by the US Federal Reserve is a sign of trouble, but it is a sense of relieve to the people also, as these measures will actually speed up the recovery. But still, these holes need to be covered. But how?

"“The returns of funds that focus on large-cap stocks are usually considered to be more stable than small-cap funds as larger corporations are better positioned to weather economic cycles due to their sheer size, stronger cash flows and dominance in their respective industries." This is quoted from Public Bank and Public Mutual Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow. But the main point here is the word in bold: strong cash flows.

If these big cap companies in China take this chance to make a presence in the US financial sector, they are actually also putting a mark in the world economy. The US financial sector need cash to cover the hole, while the chinese need recognition and brand building. With the US financial sector's expertise, they can actually improve on the operation of these chinese banks. This is a win-win situation for both, and the potential for huge growth is high if this happened.

Below are some brief info on the fund.

Strategy:
Investing in companies with market capitalisation of RM10 billion and above in the Greater China region namely China, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets and including China-based companies listed on overseas markets.

Equity exposure: from 75% to 90% of its NAV.

Duration: Mediun to Long Term

Risk Profile: High risk

Financial Crisis: Is it a lost or a chance?

Movie Reviews

I recently did a check on my blog readability,"My Blog Readability Test: What level of education is required to understand your blog?". The result, as you can see above, is of genius level. Under normal circumstances, genius is the most desired word to be rated, but in this case, I'm not so sure. If only genius can understand my blog, does that mean people don't understand what I wrote here?


There are always 2 sides of a thing
When people talk about financial crisis, most people will agree that it is bad for everyone. But is it everyone? C is a victim of retrenchment, and he was compensated accordingly. He spend part of the compensation on a landed property, which at that time is at all time low because the demand was low as a result of the financial crisis. After 3 years, his landed property gain 3 fold, and he is now a half a millionaire.

Gaining from Crisis
As you can see from C, one can actually gain from a financial crisis, but are you the one? The most important key to actually gain from crisis and overcome difficult times is to have a big enough reserve funds, and diversified it as you will never know what kind of crisis you may be facing.

Feel Good Funds

Recently I was informed that Public Mutual will launch 2 new funds in the month of April, namely Public China Titans Fund(w0w! Sounds really gigantic) and Public Islamic Optimal Growth Fund. The former will be available from 1st April (Aprils Fools Day), while the latter from 8th April.

The Selling Point
When I heard of the brief intro of these 2 funds, I was really impressed. I shall start with the Public China Titans Fund 1st. The strategy of this fund is to invest in Big Cap counter in China, and the Big Cap is really BIG, with market capitalization of over RM10 billion. While in recent time, people are saying the China market has heated too much, and the market there is going to burst, while some point to the poor performance, thus far, of the funds investing in China. Frankly speaking I agree with both these opinions, but I can point out how this fund is different.

Size Does Matter!
Today, the biggest bank in the world is no more Citibank or banks in the US. The biggest bank today belongs to China's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC), with market capitalization of US$254billion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_Commercial_Bank_of_China

Besides ICBC, there are a big number of Big Cap companies in China who is already making their presence felt. China Mobile, which is the largest mobile operator in the world by subscribers. Other notable companies include Sinopec, China National Petroleum, China Construction Bank, and finally Asia's Richest man, Li Ka-shing's Hutchinson Whampoa.

While you may say that the bubble is going to burst (in fact Li himself also mentioned before), these Big Cap companies, will only get bigger as they possess a very huge domestic market and cash rich.

High Dividend Yield + Growth
The 2nd fund, Public Islamic Optimal Growth Fund strategy is to invest in high dividend yield and growth stocks. This is actually a nice balance to the investor as growth stocks offer higher profit but more volatile, while high dividend yielding company normally grow at a slower pace. With the combination of both, investors can maintain their dividend yield, while there are possibility of fast growing companies in the portfolio, which bring about higher profit. Perfect match!

Now let us look forward to their official launch of the funds!

Compound Interest determine whether you can retire a millionaire or not

So can you retire a millionaire? Yes, and NO!...
NO! if you keep your money under the pillow ( also can apply to savings account which offer no interest at all)
Basic maths, RM500 x 12 = RM6000/year
RM6000 x 30 = RM180,000..
NO CHANCE AT ALL!


If you are earning a 10% interest per annum?..Ok,let's see..
RM6000/year
1st year = 6,600
2nd year = 13,860
3rd year = 21,846
4th year = 30,631
5th year = 40,294
6th year = 50,923
7th year = 62,615
8th year = 75,477
9th year = 89,625
10th year = 105,187

So at this stage,you have your own family, and there more commitments to meet. Now you can only manage to save RM250 per month = RM3000/year

11th year = 119,006
12th year = 134,206
13th year = 150,927
14th year = 169,320
15th year = 189,552
16th year = 211,807
17th year = 236,287
18th year = 263,216
19th year = 292,838
20th year = 325,421

At this stage, you'll want to let yourself and your family to enjoy some luxury. So now you decided to stop saving every month.
Compounding Factor= (1+10%) to the power of 12 = 3.14

The exact figure is actually RM1,021,822. Congratulations! You are a millionaire!...

The exact money saved is only RM90,000, but compound interest turn you into a Millionaire!..

Rating on Public Mutual's Funds

Recently, Public Mutual published its funds' rating by the Morningstar Rating™ on its website. For Unit Trust Funds, Rating is similar to the Research Report done by the Stock Broking Company or Investment Bank on certain Stock Counters, just that Rating is even more simple. One may find it difficult to understand everything in a research report, while Rating is just based on the number of stars given. The Rating given is based on the return over period of time, normally 3-Year, 5-Year and 10-Year.

The Morningstar Rating™ is another guide for us when buying unit trust funds. For the full list of rating, visit

http://www.publicmutual.com.my/page.aspx?name=morningstar_all

strategy during falling market

There are good questions asked on unit trust recently.

"should I sell my unit trust now?"
"no."

"what if the market keep going down after this?"
"you will get more units."

"huh? but I'm not buying with the Dollar Cost Average method, I buy one-time only."
"Although you buy one-time, you will still get more units. If a company is making profit, it will distribute dividends to the shareholder right? Unit trust also invest in these companies, and the dividend distributed will be reinvest. If the market is dropping, when the dividend is reinvested, you will get more units, isn't it?"

Example: if you invest RM1000 on a RM0.25 fund, you will get 4000 units. If the price of the fund drop until RM0.20, when the dividend is reinvested (assuming the dividend is 10% of RM1000 = RM100), you will get extra 500 units.
(All calculations excluding service charge)

The Malaysian economy is doing well at the moment, with companies recording record earnings and dividend pay-out. The current drop in Bursa is mainly due to political reasons and the uncertain US economy. So don't panic if you are an existing investor, because with lower price mean more units for you when the dividend is reinvested.

Since unit trust is for a long run, you can sell at a higher price later on with more units. Buy low, sell high! But to ensure you will get better profit, do Dollar Cost Average!

Below is a very meaningful article for to read. Don't worry, be happy!

http://www.publicmutual.com.my/page.aspx?name=art_remaincalm_pg01

Non-Trading Days for Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Very often, we are said to have the most public holidays in the region in Malaysia, but then..there are still days when others are having holidays while we are not.
If you have bought any unit trust fund investing in Hong Kong and China, take note!
Below are the days where the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will close while we are not.

Good Friday
21 March 2008

Easter Monday
24 March 2008

Ching Ming Festival
4 April

Tuen Ng Festival
8 June 2008

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day
1 July

Mooncake Festival
15 September 2008

China National Day
1 October

Chung Yeung Festival
7 October 2008

Boxing Day
26 December

Transaction received during these days, be it purchase or repurchase, will be processed based on the closing prices of the next business day.

In cases of switching of funds involving china fund, the same applies, that is, transaction will only be processed based on the closing prices of the next business day, when both funds involved are opened for trading.

So do take note of this when making switch! Especially when there are events coming up! Take the recent Malaysian election for example. If you have decided to switch to a china fund on the 7th of March, but unfortunately 7th of March is a holiday in HKSE (for example), so the switch will only occur on the 10th of March, when both market are open.

So....DO TAKE NOTE!

Who are managing these unit trust funds?

Unit fund is managed by a group of professional managers (known as the unit trust company) who will invest the pooled money in a portfolio of securities such as shares, bonds and money market instruments or other authorised securities to achieve the objectives of the fund. Because of the large sums collected, the fund manager is able to diversify among various investments in such range and diversity that the risks of investing are minimised.

Why I highlighted the word Professional?
Still remember the 1997 financial crisis? The reason why it affected so many people is because at that time, almost everyone, or anyone buy shares! You can see people selling vegetables, and talk about how much he made in the stock market. And also because of these uninformed people buying into the stocks, a counter that worth only RM1.00 can be sold at RM5.00! Isn't that hilarious?!..

Well, I'm not saying that these professionals will surely make profit when investing in shares! In fact, if these people are really so good, they are already billionaire themselves, and wouldn't give a damn investing for people for a salary! Look at Warren Buffett!.. What I want to stress here is, at lease these people know a thing or two more than the general people investing in share market!...At lease they can differentiate between a stock that is "fried" up by speculations, or really have the fundamental to be priced at that level!

So if you know nuts about stock market, don't dive into it! Choose unit trust instead!

If you think you know a lot about stock market, and is already investing in stock market, do compare your profit/loss to the unit trust fund and benchmark! Cause most of the time people will find that they do no better than unit trust fund!

The profit is even much less if you count in the amount of effort spent on "researching" before you buy a certain counter, and also the minimum brokerage fee of RM40.

So at the end of the day, is it worth it to buy stocks by yourself?

The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards 2008

Ok!.award presentation again!..These days there are so many awards given out, and some even give out broom ^o^ So is this one of those awards?..Certainly not!

The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards are given to the best performing unit trust funds in Malaysia over the 3,5 and 10-year periods where winners are determined based on the Lipper Leader ratings for Consistent Return, a risk adjusted investment performance return measure developed by Lipper.

Only funds that have done well over a period of three years and beyond are recognised, in line with the practice adopted by the global Lipper Fund Awards. Some 17 awards covering seven fund categories were given out this year, including Islamic funds that topped their respective Lipper classification.

In this latest edition of The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Award, Public Mutual Bhd, for the 5th consecutive years emerged as the biggest winner of this award, by winnng 8 out of 20 awards.

1) Public Mutual Berhad: Best Equity Group Award, 3 Years

PB Fixed Income Fund
2) Bond Malaysian Ringgit, 5 years

PB Growth Fund
3) Best Equity Malaysia Fund, 5 years

Public SmallCap Fund
4) Best Equity Malaysia Small and Mid Caps Fund, 5 years

PB Balanced Fund
5) Best Mixed Asset Malaysian Ringgit Balanced Fund, 5 years

Public Ittikal Fund
6) Best Equity Malaysia Fund, 5 years
7) Best Equity Malaysia Fund, 10 years

Public Bond Fund
8)Best Bond Malaysian Ringgit Fund, 10 years


So How Lipper determine the winner?
For your information, Lipper is the leading global provider of fund intelligence. They provide accurate, comprehensive and objective information on funds and fund markets.

The methodology they used to determine the winner of the award can be view in the link below

http://www.lipperweb.com/services/award_methodology.asp

How To Select The Right Unit Trust Fund?

In today’s unit trust industry, there are a variety of different unit trust funds for you to choose from. But the 1st step perhaps is to identify your risk profile, or your appetite for risk

There are generally 3 types of risk profile for the unit trust fund, namely Aggressive, Moderate and Conservative. Do take note of the risk profile of the fund that you are going to buy, as this represents your investment objective.

If you want your money to grow a larger sum in the future and your risk tolerance is higher, you may choose a fund with a risk profile: Aggressive.

On the other hand, if what you are looking to achieve is an ongoing income stream to pay for expenses and your risk tolerance is low, you may choose the Moderate or Conservative risk profile.

Every individual may have different investment objectives, risk tolerance and time horizons at any one time, therefore the variety of different funds. So the fund you invested in must be one that suit your objective.

A logical next step will be to look at the past performance or investment results. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict a unit trust’s future investment performance. This will depend on the type of fund, the general market trends and the investments which a fund manager picks. Past performance figures are no guarantee of the future. A fund that has performed well in the past may not do so in the future and vice versa.

The summary of Do’s and Don’ts of Choosing a Unit Trust Fund

Do

- Decide which type of unit trust fund meets your saving needs.

- Shop around for a reliable unit trust company

- Check past performance records

Don’t

- Don’t choose any unit trust fund just because its performance has been good, make sure it is the right fund for you.

- Don’t pay too much attention to short term performance, good consistent performance over all periods is the best lead.

- Don’t decide on a unit trust fund just because it has low charges, good performance is far more important

- Don’t borrow to invest in unit trust

How to calculate the units you owned?

The ownership of fund will be divided into units.

For example:
If you invest RM1000 into a fund with the unit price RM0.25, you are suppose to get 1000/0.25= 4000 units.

But because these unit trust managers manage these funds for you, they will charge a certain amount on you, which will be known as Service Charge. Worth noting is that this Service Charge is one-time charges, unlike invest directly in the share market where there will be a minimun brokerage of RM40++ whenever you sell or buy.

The current rate of Service Charge will be around 5% for equity & balanced funds. So assume that the Service Charge is 5%, the actual units you actually get will be:

(4000/105) x 100= 3809.52 units

The formula will be

(Amount invested/unit price)/(100+ service charge,%) x 100

Also, when there are distribution (or in generally dividend) by the fund, it will also distribute in units. With the current format of single pricing, if you want to know how much is your unit trust worth now, just check the the price of the particular fund from the newspaper or internet, and times it with the number of units you owned.

unit price x number of units = the current value of your fund

Unit Trust:concept & the right frame of mind

Unit Trust is an investment vehicle that pools the financial resources of many individual investors who aim to achieve similar investment objectives.

So how does it work? Ever wonder what the EPF do with all the money from the contributors?And where do they get the money to pay the dividend to the contributors?
Yes, they invest it.

The basic concept of Unit Trust is some what similar, that is they pool the money from individuals and invest it, but of course there are differences between them.

Among them:

Flexibility
Like it or not, you will have to contribute to the EPF if you are working class these days, eventhough you are not satisfied with the dividend they pay out, whereas in Unit Trust, you can choose to buy or not to buy, which fund you want to buy.

Liquidity
You can't take out your money from the EPF unless you reach certain age, or under certain condition (which I will elaborate more later), whereas for Unit Trust you can sell your units and get back ur money anytime you want.

Making losses while investing in unit trust is possible, right?but EPF never pay less than stated in the statement..

The inliquidity of EPF actually help to make the EPF safer than Unit Trust. How?..Because they know how much money will be taken out and when. Therefore, even if they are losing from their investment, they will still be able to pay out the amount required as they can make provision beforehand. So you wouldn't get less money from EPF than what is stated in your statement.

The same can't be said of unit trust. Simply because every fund holder can take out the money,anytime he/she wants, so their funds have to be calculated everyday, in case everyone wants to take out the money,they will still be able to pay out. Therefore if they are making losses in their investment, it will be shown in the unit price, making the fund holder to lose money if they sell at that time.

the right frame of mind

So if you are investing in unit trust for savings, then you shouldn't feel uncomfortable if the unit price is lower than your buying price, simply because you are investing for long term, and you are not selling it at the moment. Instead the drop in price will make you more determined to keep the savings go on, because you don't want to make a loss by sellling now, whereas if the unit price keep going up, you will be tempted to break your savings and sell for profit.

If you are think investing in unit trust are just like investing in shares, then sorry to say it don't work the same way. Speculation don't work in unit trust, and earning quick money should not be the purpose for investing.