Petaling Jaya, 2 January – Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd, one of the leading private unit trust management companies in Malaysia, has announced the following income distributions for two of its Funds for their financial year/interim period ended 31 December 2008 respectively:

Financial Year Ended 31 December 2008
Pacific Dividend Fund - 4.0 sen per unit

Interim Period Ended 31 December 2008
Pacific Cash Fund - 0.4 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 Dividend Fund - 8.03%
Pacific Cash Fund - 0.79%

“It was a very tough year for equity markets around the world with Malaysia not being exempted from the impact of the ongoing global financial crisis and economic slowdown. However, Pacific Mutual’s prudent risk management and investment management strengths has once again enabled Pacific Dividend Fund to outperform peer funds and its benchmark despite the exceedingly trying times,” said Gary Gan, General Manager, Business Development & Marketing of Pacific Mutual, adding that the Fund’s total accumulated gross distribution has increased to RM0.236 per unit since inception five years ago. This translates to 47.20% of distribution over its launch price of RM0.5000 per unit.

Gan continued, “Pacific Dividend Fund was awarded the highest ranking in the Lipper Global Equity Malaysia class scheme for overall fund Total return, Consistent return and Preservation categories respectively under the Lipper Leader Fund Ratings (source: Lipper table as at 28 November 2008), reflecting its strong performance exceeding its benchmark as well as peers and its consistency in achieving its investment objective since its launch in 2003.”

“As for Pacific Cash Fund, the declaration of 0.4 sen per unit for its investors is the Fund’s first interim income distribution since its final income distribution in September 2008. The Fund aims to provide its investors up to four times of income distributions in a financial year,” Gary further expressed.

Pacific Mutual now manages a total of 18 Funds, of which six are Funds with global exposure. The Company also manages private funds under its asset management business. As at mid December 2008, it has a total combined fund size of RM1.4 billion under its unit trust fund management.

KUALA LUMPUR: AmMutual Bhd’s AmConservative declared an interim income distribution of one sen per unit for the financial year ending April 30, 2009.

In a statement, AmMutual said the distribution represented a yield of 2% investment return based on the net asset value (NAV) per unit of 48.81 sen as at April 30, 2008.

As at Oct 31, 2008, the fund delivered a three-year return of 9.88% as compared to its benchmark index of 8.9%, an outperformance by 0.98%.

KUALA LUMPUR: AmMutual has declared the first income distribution of 7.3 sen per unit for AmDual Opportunities-Capital Protected for the financial year ended Oct 2008.

In a statement yesterday, AmMutual said the first yearly income distribution represented a yield of 7.3% based on the net asset value (NAV) per unit of RM1 offered during the offer period from Sept 3, 2007 to Oct 2, 2007.

It is a close-ended fund which seeks to provide yearly distribution over a two-year investment period investing in the volatility of euro to US dollar exchange rate (EUR/USD), deriving its appreciation from upward as well as downward movements in the euro currency while providing 100% capital protection when held to maturity.

The fund invested a minimum of 90% of the NAV in two-year zero-coupon negotiable instruments of deposits (ZNIDs) which seek to protect investor’s capital, and up to 5% in an option.

“As at Oct 17, 2008, the fund delivered a one-year return of 12.95% as compared to its benchmark, the Maybank one-year fixed deposit rate of 3.7%, an outperformance by 9.25%,” said Datin Maznah Mahbob, AmInvestment Bank group chief executive officer of the funds management division.

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual declares distributions for two of its funds. The total gross distributions declared for the financial year ended 31 August 2008 are as follows:

Public Mutual’s Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow said Public SmallCap Fund which was launched in 2000, is an award winning fund, having received a total of 10 awards in its category from The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards and The Star/Standard & Poor’s Investment Fund Awards Malaysia. Public Small Cap Fund was ranked No.1 for its five-year returns in its category with an impressive return of 113.47% for the period ended 8 August 2008, according to The Edge-Lipper Fund Table dated 18 August 2008. The fund is distributed by Public Mutual unit trust consultants, while PB Islamic Equity Fund which was launched in 2005, is distributed by Public Bank branches nationwide.

Public Mutual is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 67 funds for more than 1,800,000 accountholders. As at 31 July 2008, the total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM26.3 billion.

Source: www.publicmutual.com.my

Kuala Lumpur, 24 July 2008 – HwangDBS Investment Management Berhad (”HwangDBS IM” or the Company) today declared an annual gross income distribution for its flagship fund, the HwangDBS Select Opportunity Fund (”SOF”). SOF is HwangDBS IM’s first fund and is an equity and growth type fund that invests mainly in listed Malaysian companies with good growth prospects.

The Company declared an annual gross income distribution of 10.00 sen per unit for SOF’s financial year ending 31 July 2008. This represents its seventh distribution since its launch on 7 September 2001 and final distribution for the financial period. In that timeframe, SOF has registered a total growth of 183.71 per cent1 on its NAV per unit. All SOF unit holders registered as at 18 July 2008 are eligible to receive the income allotment. The Fund has, since its inception, outperformed its benchmark, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), by a total of 90.03 per cent2 and has distributed a total of 63.00 sen since inception.

Teng Chee Wai, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of HwangDBS IM commented, “Amid the falling market and slow economic growth locally and globally, HwangDBS IM is pleased to be able to declare income distributions for an equity fund such as SOF. Since its launch, SOF has been charting strong growth and has consistently outperformed its given benchmark due to our active management strategy and team-based approach.”

Teng also stated that the second quarter of 2008 market outlook started off on a better note as global equities generally rebounded strongly over the month of April. A slew of positive newsflow and the general belief that the lows recorded in March could have been the market bottom provided impetus for the April rally. However, sentiment remained fickle and equities consolidated over the subsequent months, wiping out almost all gains achieved in April and proving that April’s performance was merely a technical bounce from the lows recorded in March.

Malaysian equities continued to take cues from its regional and global market peers over the quarter. However, an escalation of political risk compounded the negative performances of domestic equities. Additionally, the withdrawal of foreign funds in turn prompted a sell-down by domestic investors, causing the KLCI to record its second worst monthly performance for 2008 in the month of June, wiping off all gains at the start of the quarter. Expectations are that politics will continue to dominate the local front and will weigh negatively on Malaysian equities until a clearer sign of stability is seen.

On a broader perspective however, Asian equities underperformed other equity markets over the quarter as inflation concerns featured more significantly in the region. Additionally, concerns over secondary and spill through effects from the economic slowdown experienced in the US affected confidence over the highly export-driven Asian markets3.

Due to the outlook, HwangDBS IM will continue to hold a defensive position with respect to domestic equities and will retain a cash buffer to cushion the impact from any weakness seen in Malaysian equities.

1 Source: Lipper as at 30 June 2008
2 Source: Lipper as at 30 June 2008
3 Source: Bloomberg at June 2008

Financial Year Ended 30 June 2008
Pacific Millennium Fund - 6.0 sen per unit
Pacific Recovery Fund - 6.0 sen per unit
Pacific SELECT Balance Fund - 3.5 sen per unit
Pacific SELECT Income Fund - 2.5 sen per unit

Interim Period Ended 30 June 2008
Pacific Cash Fund - 0.4 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 Millennium Fund - 9.8%
Pacific Recovery Fund - 10.7%
Pacific SELECT Balance Fund - 6.4%
Pacific SELECT Income Fund - 4.8%
Pacific Cash Fund - 0.8%

“We are generally pleased to be able to offer consistent payouts to our investors, despite trying market conditions,” said Gary Gan, General Manager, Business Development & Marketing of Pacific Mutual, adding that the payouts were possible due to the respectable returns generated and prudent downside risk management achieved by the said Funds.

Gan further expressed, “The Company continues to maintain its fund distribution consistency over the years irrespective of market conditions, which affirms our ongoing commitment to provide value to our existing investors, especially those who have stayed with us for the long term. We also thank our investors for their ongoing support and confidence in us.”

The declaration of 0.4 sen per unit for investors of Pacific Cash Fund was the Fund’s third interim income distribution since December 2007, thus achieving its objective of providing regular income and capital stability.

Pacific Mutual now manages a total of 18 Funds, of which six are Funds with global exposure. The Company also manages private funds under its asset management business. As at end June 2008, it has over 55,000 accounts under its unit trust fund management worth RM1.8 billion.

Source: www.pacificmutual.com.my

In a statement yesterday, AmBank group’s funds management division chief executive officer Datin Maznah Mahbob said the semi-annual income distribution represented a yield of 2.04% investment return based on the net asset value (NAV) per unit of 24.45 sen as at Nov 30, 2007.

“As at April 30, 2008, the fund delivered a one-year return of 7.92%, outperforming the Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) by 11.13%,” she said.

“The fund has outperformed because of high exposure in sectors like palm oil and finance. Another factor was the cash and equity asset allocation switching strategy.”

Via The Edgedaily

* Public Islamic Dividend Fund - Gross distribution of 2.00 sen per unit
* Public Far-East Balanced Fund - Gross distribution of 1.75 sen per unit
* Public Islamic Asia Dividend Fund - Gross distribution of 0.40 sen per unit

Public Mutual’s Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow said Public Islamic Dividend Fund is an Islamic equity fund that aims to provide income by investing in a portfolio of stocks that complies with Shariah requirements and which offer or have the potential to offer attractive dividend yields. “Public Islamic Dividend Fund is suitable for medium- to long-term investors with preference for receiving income while capital growth is secondary”, he added.

As for Public Far-East Balanced Fund, it is a regional balanced fund which aims to provide income and capital growth over the medium- to long-term period. This fund is suitable for medium- to long-term investors who prefer to receive income and a respectable measure of capital growth. It comes with free insurance coverage of up to RM100,000 per qualified unitholder. Terms and Conditions apply.

Meanwhile, Public Islamic Asia Dividend Fund is an Islamic equity income fund that seeks to provide income by investing in a portfolio of stocks in domestic and regional markets that complies with Shariah requirements and which offer or have the potential to offer attractive dividend yields. This fund is suitable for medium- to long-term investors with preference for receiving income while capital growth is secondary.

Public Mutual is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 62 funds for more than 1,800,000 accountholders. As at 29 February 2008, the total NAV of the funds managed by the company was RM27 billion.

Source: www.publicmutual.com.my

In a statement yesterday, OSK-UOB said for the six months to March 31, 2008, it declared a gross distribution of 5.5201 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Smart Treasure Fund and 5.6784 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Smart Balanced Fund giving investors a yield of 6.0% and 6.9%, respectively.

For the 10 months to March 31, 2008, OSK-UOB declared a gross distribution of nine sen per unit for OSK-UOB KidSave Trust and 10.4710 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Emerging Opportunity Unit Trust, giving yields of 13.5% and 12.9%, respectively.

It also declared a final net distribution of 0.1775 sen per unit for its OSK-UOB Institutional Islamic Money Market Fund bringing the total paid out to 1.8095 sen per unit for the five to March 31, equivalent to a yield of 4.34% per annum.

OSK-UOB chief executive officer Ho Seng Yee said: “Moving forward, we are confident that we will continue to provide our investors with a consistent and regular stream of distributions in the coming year, including for our other funds under our management”.

Source: The Edge Daily