PB China ASEAN Equity Fund to capitalise on China and ASEAN growth prospects (5 March 2008)

Public Bank will launch a China ASEAN fund, PB China ASEAN Equity Fund (PBCAEF) on 5 March 2008 (Wednesday). PBCAEF will invest in China stocks and the balance in stocks listed on ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) markets. The fund will be managed by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual.

Public Mutual’s Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow said PBCAEF offers investors the opportunity to capitalise on the solid growth prospects in China and ASEAN. Over the past five years, the Chinese and the ASEAN stock markets have been among the best performing markets globally on the back of resilient economic growth, accommodative monetary policies and healthy earnings growth. “China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to remain robust due to resilient domestic consumption, investment and exports while the growth prospects of ASEAN economies continue to be promising with domestic demand spearheading economies activities,” he added.

Tan Sri Teh believes that PBCAEF will offer investors the opportunity to capitalise on the solid investment prospects in China and ASEAN markets.

PBCAEF is an equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period by investing in a diversified portfolio of China stocks with the balance in stocks listed on ASEAN markets. A minimum of 50% of PBCAEF’s net asset value (NAV) will be invested in China stocks listed on the China, Hong Kong, United States of America and other approved markets. The equity exposure of PBCAEF will generally range from 75% to 90% of its NAV.

Tan Sri Teh added that PBCAEF is suitable for long-term investors with high risk profile who wish to participate in the growth prospects of China and ASEAN.

The issue price / NAV of PBCAEF is at RM0.2500 per unit during the 21-day initial offer period of 5 March 2008 to 25 March 2008. During the offer period, a promotional service charge of 5% of NAV per unit is extended to the purchase of units of PBCAEF by investors.

Tan Sri Teh advises investors to adopt the Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) principle via Direct Debit Instruction (DDI) in times of market volatility, as the accumulation of units under the DCA spreads out the risk of market volatility and thus results in lower average costs per unit. In order to encourage regular investments and spread your initial investment over a series of smaller investments for a period of time, Public Mutual will run a special DDI Promotion for PBCAEF whereby any DDI with PBCAEF during the offer period will enjoy a special promotional service charge of 5.25% of NAV per unit for as long as the DDI 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 PBCAEF.

The manager of the fund, Public Mutual is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 58 funds for more than 1,650,000 accountholders. As at 31 December 2007, the total NAV of the funds managed by the company was RM28.4 billion.