Just got this from reader Jasmine Liaw:

Source: www.pacificmutual.com.my

Petaling Jaya, 1 October 2010 – Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd, winner of the Best Equity and Mixed Assets fund manager awards at The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards 2010, has announced the following income distributions, amounting to RM22.3 million, for six of its Funds for their financial year ended 30 September 2010:

Pacific Premier Fund – 5.75 sen per unit
Pacific Income Fund – 4.00 sen per unit
Pacific Focus 18 Fund – 3.50 sen per unit
Pacific Cash Fund – 0.40 sen per unit
Pacific Global Stars Fund* – 2.50 sen per unit
Pacific SELECT Bond Fund – 1.25 sen per unit

This translates to the following distribution yields for investors based on the net asset value (NAV) per unit of the respective Funds prior to the distribution:

Pacific Premier Fund – 7.00%
Pacific Income Fund – 6.84%
Pacific Focus 18 Fund – 6.23%
Pacific Cash Fund – 0.79%
Pacific Global Stars Fund* – 5.52%
Pacific SELECT Bond Fund – 1.21%

*Formerly known as Pacific S&P Global STARS Fund

“Despite the ongoing volatile markets and still uncertain global economic conditions, especially in the developed markets, our Investment Team has generated sustained outperformance and reasonable returns for our investors – achieved via our highly disciplined investment process and in-depth fundamental analysis and of equal importance, our focus on risk management,” says Gary Gan, General Manager, Business Development & Marketing of Pacific Mutual.

“The awards and recognitions we have received for our Funds speak volumes for our fund management strength. Our Pacific Global Stars Fund (formerly known as Pacific S&P Global STARS Fund) and Pacific Income Fund have emerged as the best equity global fund and the best mixed asset fund respectively at The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards 2010,” says Gan, adding that both these funds along with the Pacific Premier Fund – are all currently Lipper Leaders in Consistent Return as well. (Source: Lipper 10 September 2010).

“We continue to stay true to our core competencies, and build our business to provide real value to our investors. Investors who believe in our investment style and approach, which have been proven to work through different market cycles, and investors who have stayed invested in our Funds will again benefit from the consistent distribution payout,” adds Gan.

Pacific Mutual, the investment arm of the PacificMas Berhad and a member of the OCBC Group, currently manages a total of 29 Funds, which include 14 Funds with foreign investment mandates and two wholesale funds. The Company also manages private mandates under its asset management business. As at end September 2010, Pacific Mutual manages RM2.1 billion on behalf of its clients.

My favorite stock-broking firm- Jupiter Securities is giving ZERO-Brokerage for one month to investors who open a new online trading account with them during our Bursa Malaysia Market Chat. Read on to find out more:

(Start of promotional message…)

Jupiter Online is participating in the Bursa Malaysia Market Chat 2010-2011. This is an event not to be missed.

Last year, Jupiter seminars were very well attended, and we received excellent feedback. This year, we hope to emulate last year’s event. Speakers will include Mr Pong Teng Siew, Head of Research, Mr Kelvin Tan, Head of Jupiter Online and other invited speakers. Amongst the topics that will be looked into includes:

How do we profit from the Recovery? Where is the market direction? Will the market reach a new high or will we experience a major retracement? What are the sectors to be invested in? What are the stocks that you should be watching and investing? How can you reduce transaction costs to improve your winning trading strategy? How to have a competitive edge using the tools available in online trading? How to use technical charts to time your entry and exits? What are the stock picks? What are the other good investment instruments available?

For answers to be above questions, sign up for the Bursa Malaysia Market Chat. Lunch and tea will be provided to registered participants.

Schedule for October and November are as follows:

ZERO BROKERAGE for one month for all who open a new online trading account with Jupiter Securities Sdn Bhd during our Bursa Malaysia Market Chat.

Registration is FREE. Please call 03-20709800 or send an email to servicecenter@jssb.com.my.

(…end of promotional message)

If you have been an active trader/investor, which means you enter and exit the share market quite regularly, you would have realized that brokerage fee is one of the most important factor that you must take into account to ensure that you still make a profit, even after the price tick upwards in your favor.

Zero-brokerage is definitely a very good ‘sweetener’ to get us retail investors into the trading game, but even with this one-month zero-brokerage benefit, you must still practice stringent money management because when you are in the game, you must realize that you are playing with the best brains and you have no idea how ‘ruthless’ the game can get.

Good luck trading!

Financial consultants and investment product brokers work very hard every day to drill into their clients’ mind the importance of wealth accumulation. However, a disproportionate amount of that drilling and hammering is focused on the types of wealth accumulation products, rather than the strategies.

Last week, a very successful ‘wealth accumulator’, a school teacher from Cheras, shared with me 2 phrases that he has kept closed to his wealth accumulation strategy and here they are:

1) 只有进没有出 – Only In’s, No Out’s

2) 有多没有少 – More, Never Less

These 2 phrases are translated literally from the Chinese language, and it has a zen-like quality to it.

The school teacher has applied this strategy since he started working 30 years ago, and he is still using it today.

In the first phrase, he emphasized that you should be very strict on the direction of your cash. Once you’ve allocated this amount to your wealth accumulation plan, you must never withdraw it, UNLESS, in his very own words, “You are going to use it for a productive purpose”.

Once you get into the discipline of accumulating a tiny portion of your income, you should be able to see your effort growing and your only logical response to this revelation is to increase your accumulation volume and hence directly increases the rate of your accumulation.

In my experience, accumulating your wealth without a good financial blueprint, even with the best financial products, your results will not be as spectacular as compared to having a clear idea of what you really want from your investments. It’s your job to be as descriptive and precise as possible when you are communicating your investment philosophies to your financial consultants to see if their services matches your requirements.

Keeping it simple, I hope you get something out of it. I know I did.

Via FPAM.org (Thanks to Aniza for the note!)

CEO of Retirement Village Association of Australia (RVAA) to speak at “Everyone can retire well” Conference.

The aim of Retirement Villages is to create a secure environment where people can socialize and mix with those of their own age, thus helping to remove some of the loneliness and boredom often associated with growing old.

The trend in retirement village development in Australia and other developed economies is towards a resort lifestyle model that offers a range of lifestyle activities and services to its residents.

Also more and more residents are looking for developments that have or have ready access to aged care (nursing home) facilities.

Such “ageing-in-place” development offers the residents the opportunity to age gracefully and with dignity and where their changing care needs over time can be met at one familiar location.

To know more about Retirement Villages, meet in person and listen to Andrew Giles, CEO of RVAA at FPAM’s “Everyone Can Retire Well 2010 Conference & Exhibition” from 13-14 October at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre. Register now for RM500 only! For details and registration form, log on to: www.fpam.org.my

Note
(The RVAA is a peak body representing those who build or manage resident-funded retirement villages in Australia. Where legislation provides (in all States and Territories except Tasmania & Northern Territory) residents can approach the RVAA for assistance in disputes with retirement village managers)

For those of you who wants to know what’s going on in the Malaysia investment scene, this would be a good chance to get yourself some updates and do a little ‘shopping’. Thanks to reader Ken Ooi for the heads up!

You are ultimately responsible for your own money, and investment firms and consultants are always very eager to get you to part with your money and promise you greater returns than your fixed deposit accounts. Exercise diligence and do your homework before signing on the dotted lines. Never take more risk than you can tolerate.