Public Mutual Sold RM900 Million Of Its South-East Asia Select Fund

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual announced that the company has increased the fund size of its recently launched Public South-East Asia Select Fund (PSEASF) from its initial approved 1.5 billion units to 5.0 billion units due to strong demand from investors.

Chief Executive Officer Yeoh Kim Hong said the demand for PSEASF has been tremendous with close to RM900 million worth of units sold since it was launched on 2 October 2007. “The fund received overwelming response from investors as it offers them the opportunity to ride on ASEAN’s growth potential,” she explained.

“ASEAN is one of the fastest growing regions in the world with selected countries expected to grow at 6% or higher in 2008. ASEAN has excellent opportunities for further economic growth given the relatively low base of the region’s per capita income, favourable demographics and large growing population. In addition, the relatively low ratio of domestic demand to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) coupled with high savings rates suggests that consumer spending in ASEAN is poised to grow rapidly in tandem with higher disposable incomes and robust economic growth in the years ahead,” said Yeoh.

PSEASF is an equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period by investing in a portfolio of investments in ASEAN markets. PSEASF is suitable for aggressive investors who can withstand extended periods of market highs and lows to achieve medium- to long-term capital growth for their investments.

PSEASF is distributed by Public Mutual’s unit trust consultants.

Public Mutual is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 51 funds for more than 1,350,000 accountholders. As at 31 October 2007, the total fund size managed by the company was RM26.7 billion.