ING to make Malaysia its regional hub for Islamic funds

TheStar

KUALA LUMPUR: ING Funds Bhd aims to make Malaysia its hub for syariah-compliant products in the Asia-Pacific.

This is in line with the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre’s campaign to strengthen the nation’s position as an international Islamic financial centre.

Chief executive officer and director Steve Ong said the group expected to launch the next syariah-compliant fund overseas early next year once it had obtained Bank Negara approval.

“This fund will not only cater to domestic but also international investors from markets such as China, India, Japan, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

ING Funds Bhd chief executive officer and director Steve Ong (left) and Citigroup Global Markets Ltd head of structured products sales (ASEAN) and director Lee Shu Weng (right) during the launch of the ING Annual Income Climate Structured Fund in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. - Starpic by Azman Ghani

“We plan to produce and manage the fund locally, and distribute and market it through our 13 offices in the Asia-Pacific,” he said after launching ING Annual Income Climate Structured Fund (Climate) yesterday.

Climate is a syariah-based close-ended fund that offers 5% annual income distribution for three years plus potential capital gain with 100% capital preservation in Australian dollar-denominated underlying assets at maturity in 39 months.

Citigroup Global Markets Ltd is the guarantor of the 5% income and the capital invested.

Ong said ING Funds had developed Climate as a “safe” solution for investors following their concern over preserving assets under the current high inflation and uncertain market conditions.
Citigroup Global Markets head of structured products sales (Asean) Lee Shu Weng said Climate aimed to capitalise on companies that focused on alternative, efficient and renewable energy, fuel and transport development and technology.

This include nuclear power, battery, solar, biofuel and hybrid vehicles.

“Climate is based on Citi Climate Change Opportunities Index that contains 10 to 30 global stocks which are selected through stringent criteria.

“These stocks are quarterly rebalanced and must be rated ‘buy’ by Citi Investment Research,” she said, adding that the bulk of the stocks were from the US and European companies.

Next year, Ong said, ING Funds would introduce three or four products but that would depend on the results of its research and the needs of investors. There are no plans for other launches this year.

Currently, the group has RM2.6bil worth of funds under its management and it is on track to achieve its target of RM3bil this year.

Climate has an approved fund size of 500 million units and the entry price is 98.52 sen per unit.

Entry fee is 1.5% of the offer price per unit and the management fee is 1% per annum. The minimum initial investment is RM5,000.

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.

HLG Unit Trust teams up with Citibank, Permal on fixed income feeder fund

TheEdge

KUALA LUMPUR: HLG Unit Trust Bhd has entered into its first partnership with two US-based global financial services groups, Citibank and Permal Investment Management Services Ltd, with the launch of a fixed income feeder fund, HLG Fixed Income Holdings Fund.

Amid volatile equities markets globally, the fund aimed to provide investors with an alternative investment option that strives for consistent above-market returns in any market conditions, while maintaining a lower risk profile than traditional investments, said Citibank Bhd’s head of retail banking, Paul Hodes, at the launch of the feeder fund here yesterday.

The fund will invest at least 95% of its net asset value into the underlying fund, Permal Fixed Income Holdings NV (PFIH), which focuses on employing fixed income long, fixed income trading, macro, relative value arbitrage and event driven strategies.

From left: Citibank Bhd CEO Sanjeev Nanavati, Citibank head of retail banking Paul Hodes, HLG Asset Management CEO Richard Lin, Permal Singapore Pte Ltd & Permal Hong Kong Ltd MD Bo Kratz and Citibank country business manager Michellina Triwardhany at the launching of the Hong Leong Fixed Income Holdings Fund in KL yesterday.

One of the world’s largest alternative asset management groups and with over US$37 billion of assets under management, Permal claims to set the standards for hedge funds, offering an array of portfolios invested across a wide range of strategies, regions, and risk/return objectives.

Under the tripartite collaboration, sales distribution will be handled by both Citibank and HLG Unit Trust’s agency force, while Permal manages the underlying fund. Hodes said the underlying fund adopted a multi-concept approach, which strives to assemble the optimal mix of managers and strategies.

“As investors seek out products that respond to the changing dynamics in investment, we are proud to launch such a product to the investing public.

“HLG Fixed Income Holdings Fund is specially developed for the rollout of this new partnership and exclusive distribution rights have been awarded to Citibank,” said HLG Asset Management Sdn Bhd’s executive director and chief executive officer, Richard Lin.

According to figures provided by HLG Unit Trust, Permal’s fixed income fund managed returns of about 10% over the past five years, with a relatively low risk of 3.4 in terms of standard deviation.

The current approved size for the newly launched fund is 300 million units, while the minimum initial investment is RM100,000. Each unit is priced at 50 sen during the initial offer period between March 12 and April 1, 2008.

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.