Public Mutual’s new fund to reap benefits from Asia’s economic recovery

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual is launching a new fund, Public Islamic Asia Leaders Equity Fund (PIALEF) on 19 January 2010. The fund allows investors to capitalise on the growth potential of mid to large caps Shariah compliant companies trading in domestic and regional markets. Public Mutual’s Chief Executive Officer Ms. Yeoh Kim Hong said these companies are positioned to benefit from the anticipated recovery in Asian markets due to their financial strength and dominance.

Global and regional markets have rebounded strongly in 2009 amid expectations that the global economy would continue to recover. Moving into 2010, continued fiscal stimulus and accommodative policy measures are expected to sustain the global economic recovery with regional economic growth envisaged to outpace the growth of developed economies. “Over the medium- to long-term, regional markets are expected to outperform due to their reasonable valuations, high savings rates, brighter economic growth prospects and stronger fiscal positions,” she said.

PIALEF is an Islamic equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period by investing mainly in companies with market capitalisation of US$1 billion and above in domestic and regional markets that comply with Shariah requirements. These companies tend to have leading positions and established market shares which will enable them to perform well during robust as well as challenging market conditions. The fund may invest in sectors which include infrastructure, telecommunications, manufacturing, consumer, technology, conglomerates and natural resources.

The equity exposure of PIALEF will generally range from 75% to 98% of its net asset value (NAV). PIALEF is suitable for aggressive investors who would like to be in the position to reap benefits from the recovery in Asian markets.

The initial issue price of PIALEF is RM0.2500 per unit during the 21-day initial offer period from 19 January to 8 February 2010. The minimum initial investment for the fund 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 PIALEF. Investors who opt for Direct Debit Instruction with PIALEF 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.

PIALEF is distributed by Public Mutual’s unit trust consultants. 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 fund.

Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 72 funds under management. It has over 2,000,000 accountholders and as at 31 December 2009, the total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM35.6 billion.