KUALA LUMPUR 27 November 2006 ??Public Bank?? wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual will be launching two new funds, the Public Far-East Dividend Fund (PFEDF) and Public Islamic Enhanced Bond Fund (PIEBF) on 28 November 2006.

According to Public Mutual?? Chief Executive Officer Lam Kam Yin, PFEDF is an attractive equity income fund that focuses on investing in companies that have demonstrated consistency in rewarding their shareholders via strong dividend pay outs. “Up to 70% of the fund?? Net Asset Value (NAV) can be invested in selected regional markets which include South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and other approved markets. The equity exposure of PFEDF will generally range from 75% to 90% of its NAV,” he said.

He added that the launch of PFEDF is to tap the investment opportunity in regional stocks as an increasing number of corporations are expected to generate robust profit and this would translate into attractive dividend yields as companies distribute their profits to enhance shareholders??returns. ??t is timely for PFEDF to be launched as dividend yields currently offered by selected regional markets such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand exceed 3% with selected stocks offering dividend yields in excess of 5%,?? he continued.

PFEDF has an approved fund size of 1.5 billion units. The fund seeks to provide income by investing in a portfolio of stocks in domestic and regional markets which offer or have the potential to offer attractive dividend yields. Its initial issue price is RM0.25 a unit and 1% free units will be given away during the 21-day initial offer period of 28 November 2006 to 18 December 2006. It is suitable for moderate investors with preference for receiving income while capital growth is secondary.

PIEBF, on the other hand, is an Islamic bond fund that also invests in foreign equity markets. While the fund will invest between 70% to 85% of its NAV in Islamic debt securities with the aim of producing a steady and recurring stream of income to investors, it can also invest up to 20% of its NAV in Syariah-compliant equities in selected foreign markets to produce enhanced returns to supplement that of the bond portfolio. ??n other words, PIEBF investors will enjoy not only the usual benefits of steady income stream and low volatility risks of a bond fund, they will also enjoy the benefit of participating in the upside potential of the equity market due to its equity exposure, which is capped at a maximum of 20% of its NAV,?? he explained.

??t is timely for PIEBF to be launched as the bond market is underpinned by limited supply of new quality bonds, ample liquidity in the system and easing offshore interest rates,?? he added.

PIEBF seeks to provide a combination of annual income and modest capital growth primarily through a portfolio allocation across Islamic debt securities and Syariah-compliant equities. It has an approved fund size of 0.5 billion units with service charge attractively priced at 0.25% of its NAV. The fund has an issue price of RM1.00 per unit during the 21-day initial offer period of 28 November 2006 to 18 December 2006. It is suitable for conservative to moderate investors seeking stability of annual income and modest capital growth potential.

The minimum initial investment for PFEDF and PIEBF is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

Interested investors can contact any of Public Mutual?? unit trust consultants or call its Customer Service Hotline at 03-6279 5252 for more details of the funds.

Public Mutual is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 34 funds for more than 800,000 accountholders. As at 31 October 2006, the total NAV of the funds managed by the company was over RM14.8 billion.

• No related posts.