Public Bank To Launch Its First Islamic Regional Sector Fund (6 September 2007)

Public Bank will launch its first Islamic regional sector fund, PB Islamic Asia Strategic Sector Fund (PBIASSF) on 6 September 2007. This fund will be managed by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual.

Public Mutual’s Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow said PBIASSF is an Islamic equity fund that seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in a portfolio of securities, mainly equities, that complies with Shariah requirements from selected market sectors in domestic and regional markets. “A minimum of 50% of the fund’s net asset value (NAV) and up to a maximum of 90% of the fund’s NAV can be invested in selected regional markets which include Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and other approved markets. The equity exposure of PBIASSF will generally range from 75% to 90% of its NAV,” he continued.

According to Tan Sri Teh, the fund will, at any one time invest in 3 to 6 most promising market sectors which include basic materials, communications, consumer (cyclical and non-cyclical), diversified, industrial and technology. The fund manager adopts a fundamental based investment philosophy in analysing the outlook for the various sectors of the regional markets. First of all, a Top Down approach is used to analyse factors such as macro economic outlook, business cycles, income levels and demographic trends of the various regional markets. A Bottom Up Approach is then used to determine which industries and sectors are expected to perform well based on the analysis of the key macro factors. Those sectors which offer good growth prospects and are expected to perform well based on the Top Down and Bottom Up analysis will be selected for investment by the fund. “PBIASSF is suitable for investors with aggressive risk-reward temperament,” he added.

The issue price / NAV of PBIASSF is at RM0.2500 per unit during the 21-day initial offer period of 6 September 2007 to 26 September 2007. During the offer period, a promotional service charge of 5.45% of NAV per unit is extended to the purchase of units of PBIASSF by investors. Investors who opt for Direct Debit Instruction with PBIASSF during the offer period will also enjoy the promotional service charge of 5.45% of NAV per unit for as long as the Direct Debit is active. Terms and conditions apply. The minimum initial investment for the fund is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

Interested investors can visit any Public Bank branch nationwide or call free-phone at 1-800-88-3323 during normal working hours to find out more about PBIASSF.

The manager of the fund, Public Mutual is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 48 funds for more than 1,200,000 accountholders. As at 31 July 2007, the total NAV of the funds managed by the company was RM23 billion.