TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: The outlook for the Asian equity markets remains attractive and these markets are expected to rise further this year despite the sub-prime mortgage issue in the United States.
UOB Asset Management Ltd (UOBAM) senior director Colin Ng said Asia would continue to be the fastest growing region in the world as its emerging markets liberalised and new companies emerged.
“(Asia's) low cost structure will play an important role in the global outsourcing trend among multinational companies,” the Singapore-based Ng said in his presentation on Asia Growth Opportunities at the launch of OSK-UOB Asian Growth Opportunities Fund by OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd - a unit of OSK Investment Bank Bhd - yesterday.
Ng said infrastructure spending in developing markets was expected to reach US$3 trillion in the next 10 years with China, India and Indonesia projected to spend about US$654bil over the next five years.
The World Bank estimates that a 1% increase in infrastructure investment would translate into a 1% increase in gross domestic product.
On the decoupling of Asian markets from the US market since last year, Ng said various Asian economies continued to register strong domestic demand while companies were reporting good corporate earnings.
Asian markets, he said were also trading at reasonable valuations.
On the newly launched fund, OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management chief executive officer Ho Seng Yee said the fund aimed to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in mid- to small-cap stocks and stocks-related securities in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan.
It is being offered at a unit price of 50 sen with an initial minimum investment of RM1,000. The offer period ends on Jan 28.
It is a feeder fund that invests up to 98% of its net asset value in United Asian Growth Opportunities Fund (UAGOF) managed by UOBAM.
“UAGOF has superior track record since its inception three years ago with winners (stocks) in its portfolio, including KNM Group Bhd, Singapore-based Epure International Ltd and Hong Kong-based Shangdong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Ltd,” he said
Earlier, Ng said under researched companies that were “small in size but big on potential” could grow much faster than large cap companies.
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