Public China Titans Fund to capitalise on China’s large-cap stocks growth prospects (1 April 2008)

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual will launch its China’s large-cap stocks fund, Public China Titans Fund (PCTF) on 1 April 2008 (Tuesday). PCTF allows investors to tap into the growth potential of emerging giants in the Greater China region.

Public Mutual’s Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow said PCTF offers investors the opportunity to capitalise on the growth prospects of large-cap stocks in Greater China region. “The returns of funds that focus on large-cap stocks are usually considered to be more stable than small-cap funds as larger corporations are better positioned to weather economic cycles due to their sheer size, stronger cash flows and dominance in their respective industries. Thus, an equity fund that focuses on large-cap stocks can potentially offer attractive long-term capital growth by investing in large companies with strong track records. Due to their size, these companies are able to weather the impact of tougher economic conditions compared to their smaller counterparts. The Greater China region, comprising China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, offers a wide universe of large-cap stocks,” he added.

PCTF is an equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period by investing in companies with market capitalisation of RM10 billion and above in the Greater China region namely China, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets and including China-based companies listed on overseas markets. Up to 98% of the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) can be invested in selected foreign markets which include Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, United States of America and other approved markets. The equity exposure of PCTF will generally range from 75% to 90% of its NAV.

Tan Sri Teh added that PCTF is suitable for investors with high risk profile who are optimistic with the long-term growth potential of large-cap stocks in Greater China region, including China-based companies listed on overseas markets.

The Initial Offer Price of PCTF is at RM0.2500 per unit during the 21-day initial offer period of 1 April 2008 to 21 April 2008. During the offer period, a promotional service charge of 5% of NAV per unit is extended to the purchase of units of PCTF 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 cost 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 PCTF whereby any DDI with PCTF 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.

PCTF 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 the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 60 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.