Public Mutual launches new Islamic equity fund on the back of resilient prospects of the Malaysian economy - IFN

Public Mutual launches new Islamic equity fund on the back of resilient prospects of the Malaysian economy

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MALAYSIA: Public Mutual, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia-based Public Bank, has launched a new Islamic fund with two potential streams of return. The Public Islamic Growth & Income Fund (PISGIF) is a Shariah compliant equity fund which is engineered to achieve an optimal combination of capital growth and regular income by primarily investing in a diversified portfolio of growth and dividend stocks in the domestic market. Affirming her confidence in the country’s economic landscape, Yeoh Kim Hong, CEO of Public Mutual, said: “The prospects for growth and dividend stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia are generally resilient as the broad base of the Malaysian economy offers opportunities for these two different types of companies to thrive in. “Share prices of growth companies may be more volatile than the broad market as these companies are focused on achieving strong earnings growth. Meanwhile, dividend stocks are considered more stable as their dividend yields help to cushion potential declines in their share prices during periods of market volatility,” continues Yeoh. She elucidated that growth companies are typically in the financial services, construction, oil and gas, healthcare and manufacturing sectors. Dividend stocks tend to be in sectors such as consumer, telecommunications, utilities, and real estate investment trusts. Distributing income on an annual basis, the equity exposure of the fund ranges from 75-98% of its net asset value (NAV). PISGIF looks to invest in Sukuk, Islamic liquid assets including Islamic money market instruments. Twenty five percent of its NAV has been allocated for investments in selected foreign markets. The fund affords investors the opportunity to capitalize on Malaysia’s economic growth prospects in the medium to long-term. Public Mutual is said to be the largest private unit trust company in the country. At the end of November 2013, the total NAV of the funds managed by the company stood at RM61 billion (US$18.55 billion).