Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual is launching two new Islamic funds, Public Islamic Alpha-40 Growth Fund (PIA40GF) and Public Islamic Infrastructure Bond Fund (PIINFBF) on 16 November 2010.
PIA40GF is an Islamic equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth by investing up to a maximum of 40 selected Shariah-compliant blue chip stocks, index stocks and growth stocks listed primarily on Bursa Securities and regional markets.
PIINFBF on the other hand, is an Islamic bond fund that seeks to provide annual income to investors through investments in sukuk of companies in the infrastructure sector.
Public Mutual’s Chief Executive Officer Ms. Yeoh Kim Hong said, “PIA40GF adopts a more focused investment strategy and is able to achieve potentially higher returns over the medium- to long-term as it concentrates its investment in a portfolio of not more than 40 stocks.” She added that 88%1 of the securities currently listed on the local bourse are Shariah-compliant representing about two-thirds of Bursa Malaysia’s market capitalisation. Investors seeking to invest in securities that comply with Shariah principles will have access to an extensive selection of Shariah-compliant stocks across diversified industries and sectors via PIA40GF.
The equity exposure of PIA40GF will generally range from 75% to 98% of its NAV. To achieve increased diversification, the fund may invest up to 30% of its NAV in selected foreign markets, which include Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and other markets. PIA40GF is suitable for investors who would like to participate in the long-term growth potential of a concentrated portfolio of up to 40 stocks which comply with Shariah requirements.
Meanwhile, PIINFBF allows investors to access the sukuk market, which is usually inaccessible to the average investor as it is a market for institutions where the standard transaction lot is RM5 million. Sukuk issued by companies in the infrastructure sector are generally underpinned by predictable cash flows and stable income stream over the respective issuer’s concession period. Yeoh said the infrastructure companies that PIINFBF may invest in include power plant concessionaires, telecommunication service providers, toll-road concessionaires and port operators.
According to Yeoh, PIINFBF invests up to 98% of its NAV in a portfolio of sukuk of companies involved in the infrastructure sector and the balance of its assets in Islamic money market instruments. To achieve increased diversification, the fund may invest up to 25% of its NAV in foreign sukuk, which include Singapore, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and other permitted markets. PIINFBF is suitable for investors seeking the stability of annual income with some safety of principal via participating in sukuk issued by companies in the infrastructure sector.
The initial issue price of PIA40GF and PIINFBF is RM0.2500 per unit and RM1.00 per unit respectively during the 21-day initial offer period from 16 November to 6 December 2010. The minimum initial investment for both funds is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100. During the offer period, special promotional service charges as low as 5% of initial issue price per unit are extended to the purchase of units of PIA40GF. Investors who opt for Direct Debit Instruction with PIA40GF during the offer period will enjoy a special promotional service charge of 5.25% of NAV per unit for as long as the Direct Debit is active. Terms and conditions apply.
Interested investors can contact any Public Mutual unit trust consultant or call its Customer Service Hotline at 03-6207 5000 for more details of the funds.
Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 82 funds under management. It has over 2,320,000 accountholders and as at 29 October 2010, the total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM40.2 billion.