TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: HLG Unit Trust Bhd is positive on the market outlook for the current quarter and first quarter (Q1) next year despite the uncertainty arising from the US subprime crisis and housing sector slowdown.
HLG Asset Management Sdn Bhd executive director and chief executive officer Richard Lin said the current quarter was exciting with robust activities while Q1 looked promising.
“We have seen very good growth not only in the local equity market but also regional markets as a whole. There has been robust regional sentiments,” Lin said after the launch of HLG European Dividend-Growth Fund and the appointment of BNP Paribas Asset Management as the fund’s external foreign investment manager yesterday.
HLG Asset Management is the fund’s external investment manager.
However, he cautioned that the second half of next year could be challenging due to the uncertainties in the US economy.
“We are not expecting a crash in the economy, just some form of adjustments. It is inevitable the US economy will see a slowdown, dragged down by the sluggish housing sector but the slowdown will not be critical.
“We do not expect it to affect the local market but our market will continue to be influenced by external sentiment and mirror the performance of the regional markets,” Lin said.
The HLG European Dividend-Growth Fund is a growth and income fund that aims to provide investors with regular income and medium- to long-term capital growth.
The fund will invest in a diversified investment portfolio of equities and equity-related securities of European companies, based on their growth and dividend prospects. It will also invest in fixed income securities for liquidity management purpose and stability of capital.
The fund has an approved size of 600 million 50 sen units.
Lin expects the new fund, the group’s 25th, to generate positive response during the initial offer period till Dec 5.
“We will invest a minimum 70% in equities and equity-related securities of European companies and a maximum 30% in fixed income investments,” he said.
One or two more funds were expected to be launched this year, he added
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