Thursday, January 24, 2008

Public Bank, ING launch PB-ING Baraka Commodities Plan

TheEdge

KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd and ING Insurance Bhd have unveiled the PB-ING Baraka Commodities Plan in a move to diversify investment opportunities, and signifying the start to their 10-year strategic regional alliance forged recently.

In a joint statement on Jan 21, the two companies said the inaugural product jointly developed by them was a powerful capital guaranteed investment-linked plan that aimed to provide maximum capital growth and potential high performance bonus within three years.

The plan is invested in the Top 30 high-performing global stocks in basic materials and oil and gas sectors selected from the Dow Jones Islamic Markets World Index Universe. Public Bank and ING said these stocks were actively managed and re-balanced each quarter to maximise performance potential.

PB-ING Baraka Commodities Plan is a single premium plan with a minimum premium amount of RM30,000. Entry age is from 30 days to 65 years of age. The plan is open for subscription for an eight-week period starting from Jan 18, 2008, till March 18, 2008.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, Public Bank and ING sealed a 10-year strategic regional alliance to tap long term regional opportunities by jointly developing the bancassurance business, Takaful business and various other services such as wealth management, joint promotional activities and co-branded credit card services.

Public Bank managing director Datuk Seri Tay Ah Lek said the ever-increasing demand for basic materials, especially from fast developing nations in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, was expected to sustain high commodity prices in the foreseeable future.

“Coupled with the strong support for oil and gas prices, the PB-ING Baraka Commodities Plan is indeed an attractive investment option for all types of investors,” he added. It will allocate 95% of the premium paid as Invested Capital, apart from offering life insurance protection against death and total permanent disability.

The plan will be sold exclusively by Public Bank and underwritten by ING. The investments will be managed by the investment arm of ING Group, ING Investment Management (IIM) through its local affiliate, ING Funds Bhd (IFB), which had over RM2 billion assets under management as at end November 2007.

Dr Nirmala Menon, president and chief executive officer of ING Insurance Bhd, said: “The PB-ING Baraka Commodities Plan provides us with a great start to our strategic alliance. This plan allows us to tap into market segments that we have not captured while enabling Public Bank to widen its offerings for its customers.”

“Together with Public Bank, ING is already lining up many more products that are specially developed for the bank’s wide and varied clientele. We hope to be able to leverage on Public Bank’s multiple marketing channels to expand our bancassurance offerings further,” she said.

Disclaimer: Reading materials in this site are obtained from its respective website and it is for information purposes only. It is not Malaysia Unit Trusts - administrator view and it is not to be used against Malaysia Unit Trusts - administrator.