Petaling Jaya, 28 November ??Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd (Pacific Mutual), the unit trust arm of PacificMas Berhad, has teamed up with Lion Capital Management Ltd (Lion Capital) ??one of the largest asset management companies in South East Asia ??to introduce to the Malaysian investing public a new Fund today, namely Pacific AsiaPac Income Fund.

Pacific AsiaPac Income Fund is a balanced income and growth fund that invests in Asia Pacific?? attractive equities including Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), dividend stocks and collective investment funds (CIF), as well as quality Malaysian bonds and other fixed income securities. Pacific Mutual and Lion Capital will jointly manage the Fund, where Pacific Mutual will manage the Fund?? local fixed income portion and Lion Capital is the foreign manager for the equities portion of the Fund, focusing on the Asia Pacific region.

CEO & CIO Michael Auyeung said ??acific AsiaPac Income Fund provides the best-of-both-worlds advantage, namely portfolio stability and returns. The Fund may invest up to 60% of its NAV in quality Malaysian fixed income securities, which provides potentially attractive income and greater capital stability with no currency risk…The Fund may also invest up to 50% of its NAV in foreign equities, equity-related securities, REITs and other CIF, with primary emphasis on the Asia Pacific region, the fastest growing region in the world.

??y investing in this Fund, conservative to moderate investors will still have the opportunity to gain exposure to foreign investment markets but in a safer, more stable investment portfolio. In addition, portfolio volatility is potentially reduced with global, geographical, sector and asset class diversification,?? Michael added.

Mr Daniel Chan, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Lion Capital said ??he choice of Asia as the geographical focus for this fund is a wise and timely one. With the notable exception of Japan (down 3.6% YTD Oct 06) Asian markets have done spectacularly well so far this year. India and China are two standout performers rising 29.7% and 34.7% respectively. The ASEAN markets have also racked up significant gains with Indonesia, Singapore up 40.9% and 20.7% respectively.??

He further said that, ??t is also true that there has been some re-rating of the markets as the Asia growth story gains a wider following. The astounding growth of the two rising economic giants of China and India in the last few years has no doubt been a major pivotal factor. Ten years on, after the Asian currency crisis triggered by the Thai Baht devaluation in 1997, many Asian economies have undergone restructuring and fundamentals have improved considerably. Fiscal discipline has been restored, inflation under control and corporate governance improved. Intra regional trade and investment have grown considerably and the region is less dependent on the US growth engine than before.

I believe that the Asian growth story has only just begun and it will be a long and sustainable period of growth. This is not to say it will be smooth going all the way as there will inevitably be the occasional setbacks. However, as been shown time and again such setbacks have usually proven to be buying opportunities for the patient long term investors.??

Pacific AsiaPac Income Fund aims to provide steady and attractive income and moderate growth in the medium to long term by investing in a portfolio of Malaysian and foreign securities. The Fund, which has an approved fund size of 700 million units (RM350 million), is suitable for fairly conservative investors who are seeking a steady and attractive income stream and a moderate level of growth in the medium to long term by investing in a globally diversified portfolio from the Asia Pacific region. The initial selling price for the Fund is RM0.5000 during the offer period from 28 November 2006 to 18 December 2006.

Pacific Mutual now manages a total of 15 Funds. As at mid-November 2006, it has over 70,000 accounts under its management worth more than RM1.4 billion.

Source: www.pacificmutual.com.my

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