TheEdge
KUALA LUMPUR: AmInvestment Bank Group has launched the AmPrecious Metals Fund, the country’s first precious metals fund to harness investment at a time of market uncertainty and volatility.
The feeder fund, which is AmInvestment’s second Islamic global equity fund, seeks to achieve capital appreciation through a target fund that invest in a portfolio of global syariah-compliant equity and equity-related securities of companies engaged in activities related to gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals.
Its fund management chief executive officer and executive director Datin Maznah Mahbob said gold was the ultimate diversifier compared to stocks, bonds, commodities, properties and various other asset classes.
“Gold moves opposite to the US dollar. Over the next few months, uncertainty and volatility may continue and exposure to gold and precious metal is another asset class that would hold up pretty well. It sometimes go opposite in times of market turmoil,” she said after launching the fund here yesterday.
AmPrecious Metals has an authorised fund size of RM250 million at RM1 per unit. The minimum investment amount is RM1,000 while the minimum additional investment is RM500. Its initial offer period is from Nov 15 to Dec 5.
It feeds into the German-based DWS Noor Precious Metal Securities Fund and 70% of it will be invested in equities that have exposure to gold and gold related activities while the remaining 30% in the equities of other precious metals such as platinum and silver.
Most of the investments would be in the Canadian stock market where most commodities are listed.
Other markets for investments include Australia and South Africa.
The DWS Noor Precious Metal Securities Fund is the syariah- compliant version of DWS’s conventional Gold and Precious Metal Fund. Combined, both funds have a fund size of US$800 million (RM2.69 billion).
The year-old DWS Noor Precious Metal Securities Fund has shown year to date returns of 24% while the conventional fund has returns of 195% over the past five years.
AmInvestment’s fund management retail fund director Ng Chze How said: “The stocks that we will hold and buy will provide leverage of two times performance better to gold prices. This means if gold prices go up by 10%, the securities can go up by 20%.
“In times like these where the gold price is at US$800 an ounce, it is not a surprise to expect double-digit returns annually as soon as next year,” he said.
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