BusinessTimes
AMFIRST Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), the country's oldest property trust, is working hard to shed a past perception when it comes to performance.
Previously known as the AmFirst Property Trust, the fund was the first to go public on the local bourse 18 years ago as part of the government's plan to kick-start the industry.
Performance of the sector was generally viewed as lacklustre as proper legislation was lacking before to spur growth."It is not that the market perception on AmFirst was bad. To put it in perspective, it was listed back then to answer to the government's call to set up property trusts.
The fund was started to include AmBank's own buildings," AmMerchant Bank Bhd's executive director Pushpa Rajadurai said in an interview with Business Times.
Since then, there was no change in the regulations that govern property trust, until 2005. And AmFirst had almost immediately taken steps to look at revamping the old property trust according to the new REIT guidelines. It remains the only one of three old property trusts that have been rebranded and re-listed on Bursa Malaysia.
We know that in REIT, it is good to bring in an independent property manager. ARA Management has the expertise in this area and that's why we've tied up with them," Pushpa pointed out.
Singapore-based ARA Asset Management Ltd, an affiliate of Hong Kong's real estate giant Cheung Kong Group, was roped in to own a 12.5 per cent share of AmFirst REIT. It also owns 30 per cent of the trust manager, Am ARA REIT Managers Sdn Bhd.
"The change has already been reflected in our strategy. Since ARA came in, our asset size has increased and the dividends per unit were boosted," she said.
AmFirst's asset size has swelled to RM835 million recently after it bought all the unsold units of The Summit Subang USJ, which comprises an office tower, a retail mall and a hotel.
The purchase boosted its dividends by two sen per unit for the financial year to March 2009, bringing the total forecast distributions to 9.3 sen gross per unit. Michael Lim, a director of ARA Management, said AmFirst will spend at least RM6.5 million this year to upgrade three buildings - Menara Ambank, Menara Merais, and AmBank Group Leadership Centre
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.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
OSK-UOB declares distributions for five funds
TheEdge
KUALA LUMPUR: OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd (OSK-UOB) has declared distributions of between 0.1775 sen and 10.4710 sen per unit for five of its funds.
In a statement yesterday, OSK-UOB said for the six months to March 31, 2008, it declared a gross distribution of 5.5201 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Smart Treasure Fund and 5.6784 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Smart Balanced Fund giving investors a yield of 6.0% and 6.9%, respectively.
For the 10 months to March 31, 2008, OSK-UOB declared a gross distribution of nine sen per unit for OSK-UOB KidSave Trust and 10.4710 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Emerging Opportunity Unit Trust, giving yields of 13.5% and 12.9%, respectively.
It also declared a final net distribution of 0.1775 sen per unit for its OSK-UOB Institutional Islamic Money Market Fund bringing the total paid out to 1.8095 sen per unit for the five to March 31, equivalent to a yield of 4.34% per annum.
OSK-UOB chief executive officer Ho Seng Yee said: “Moving forward, we are confident that we will continue to provide our investors with a consistent and regular stream of distributions in the coming year, including for our other funds under our management”.
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.
KUALA LUMPUR: OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd (OSK-UOB) has declared distributions of between 0.1775 sen and 10.4710 sen per unit for five of its funds.
In a statement yesterday, OSK-UOB said for the six months to March 31, 2008, it declared a gross distribution of 5.5201 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Smart Treasure Fund and 5.6784 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Smart Balanced Fund giving investors a yield of 6.0% and 6.9%, respectively.
For the 10 months to March 31, 2008, OSK-UOB declared a gross distribution of nine sen per unit for OSK-UOB KidSave Trust and 10.4710 sen per unit for OSK-UOB Emerging Opportunity Unit Trust, giving yields of 13.5% and 12.9%, respectively.
It also declared a final net distribution of 0.1775 sen per unit for its OSK-UOB Institutional Islamic Money Market Fund bringing the total paid out to 1.8095 sen per unit for the five to March 31, equivalent to a yield of 4.34% per annum.
OSK-UOB chief executive officer Ho Seng Yee said: “Moving forward, we are confident that we will continue to provide our investors with a consistent and regular stream of distributions in the coming year, including for our other funds under our management”.
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.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
CIMB unit launches 2 Islamic commodity funds
BusinessTimes
CIMB-PRINCIPAL Asset Management Bhd has launched two syariah-compliant funds that allow investors to benefit from the commodities boom.
The new funds will give them exposure to energy, agriculture products and metals via structured products.
"The commodities story is about supply not being able to keep up with very strong demand globally, particularly from the emerging economies in Asia," chief executive Datuk Noripah Kamso said at the launch in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Known as the CIMB Islamic Commodities Structured Fund 1 and 2, they invest in structured products, which are principal protected when held to maturity.
This makes them ideal for investors seeking refuge from market volatility, Noripah said.
She said these funds also allow investors to gain from the potential rise in commodities prices.
"The back testing of any commodities investment would show that the returns are high. Scarcity will drive up the prices," CIMB Group chief executive officer Datuk Nazir Razak said.
Chief investment officer Raymond Tang said the funds can potentially return between 10 per cent and 15 per cent per year.
Prices of commodities generally do not move in tandem with those of the stocks and bonds, Noripah said, thus they provide a useful diversification tool to investors.
The first fund is a close-end fund. It will invest at least 95 per cent of assets in a three-year Islamic Dynamic Best of Commodity Structured Product, to be issued by CIMB Investment Bank. The second fund is similar in structure, but has a five-year tenure.
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.
CIMB-PRINCIPAL Asset Management Bhd has launched two syariah-compliant funds that allow investors to benefit from the commodities boom.
The new funds will give them exposure to energy, agriculture products and metals via structured products.
"The commodities story is about supply not being able to keep up with very strong demand globally, particularly from the emerging economies in Asia," chief executive Datuk Noripah Kamso said at the launch in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Known as the CIMB Islamic Commodities Structured Fund 1 and 2, they invest in structured products, which are principal protected when held to maturity.
This makes them ideal for investors seeking refuge from market volatility, Noripah said.She said these funds also allow investors to gain from the potential rise in commodities prices.
"The back testing of any commodities investment would show that the returns are high. Scarcity will drive up the prices," CIMB Group chief executive officer Datuk Nazir Razak said.
Chief investment officer Raymond Tang said the funds can potentially return between 10 per cent and 15 per cent per year.
Prices of commodities generally do not move in tandem with those of the stocks and bonds, Noripah said, thus they provide a useful diversification tool to investors.
The first fund is a close-end fund. It will invest at least 95 per cent of assets in a three-year Islamic Dynamic Best of Commodity Structured Product, to be issued by CIMB Investment Bank. The second fund is similar in structure, but has a five-year tenure.
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.
Fund houses appoint KFH
TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: Seven fund houses have appointed Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH) as their Islamic unit trust distributor, with an estimated total assets under management of RM6.6bil.
Country head of commercial, retail and consumer banking Ab Jabar Ab Rahman said this move would enable the bank to increase its fee-based income.
“We are keen to grow the business. It is something that we see a lot of potential in,” he told reporters after the launch of KFH's Priority banking and its appointment as an Islamic unit trust distributor yesterday.
The fund houses are Affin Fund Management Bhd, AmInvestment Bank Group, CMS Trust Management Bhd, ING Funds Bhd, OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd, Pheim Unit Trusts Bhd and Prudential Fund Management Bhd.
Jabar said KFH would collaborate with the fund houses to offer some 20 Islamic unit trust funds, selected based on their consistent track record and performance reflected in the top quartile of the unit trust fund industry.
KFH's involvement in unit trusts would be part of the phased rollout of its retail banking expansion programme and Jabar said it would continuously explore other fund management companies on the possibility of being a distributor for funds, or developing a unit trust, which would be exclusively sold via KFH.
While the funds would initially be offered locally, he did not discount the possibility of offering them elsewhere, including other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
“It depends on how fast we can grow this business locally. We will see if the funds attract not only Malaysians but Middle Eastern investors as well,” he added.
KFH's Priority banking aims to tap the mass affluent market and high net-worth individuals who seek consistent rate of return on their investments.
Head of retail and consumer banking Baldev Singh Bhullar said KFH was targeting 200 clients for its Priority banking services this year. At present, it has five clients since its soft launch on April 8.
“The launch of KFH Priority banking and our appointment as a Islamic unit trust distributor enables the bank to successfully leverage on our ability to cross-sell products and services to tap into a new market segment,” Jabar said.
On new branches, Jabar said KFH expected the number to increase to seven this year with one branch slated to open in Penang by the third quarter. Currently it has four branches.
“We plan to open one branch each in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu by year-end,” he said, adding that KFH planned to have Priority banking centres in all its branches.
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.
KUALA LUMPUR: Seven fund houses have appointed Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH) as their Islamic unit trust distributor, with an estimated total assets under management of RM6.6bil.
Country head of commercial, retail and consumer banking Ab Jabar Ab Rahman said this move would enable the bank to increase its fee-based income.
“We are keen to grow the business. It is something that we see a lot of potential in,” he told reporters after the launch of KFH's Priority banking and its appointment as an Islamic unit trust distributor yesterday.
The fund houses are Affin Fund Management Bhd, AmInvestment Bank Group, CMS Trust Management Bhd, ING Funds Bhd, OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd, Pheim Unit Trusts Bhd and Prudential Fund Management Bhd.
Jabar said KFH would collaborate with the fund houses to offer some 20 Islamic unit trust funds, selected based on their consistent track record and performance reflected in the top quartile of the unit trust fund industry.
KFH's involvement in unit trusts would be part of the phased rollout of its retail banking expansion programme and Jabar said it would continuously explore other fund management companies on the possibility of being a distributor for funds, or developing a unit trust, which would be exclusively sold via KFH.
While the funds would initially be offered locally, he did not discount the possibility of offering them elsewhere, including other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
“It depends on how fast we can grow this business locally. We will see if the funds attract not only Malaysians but Middle Eastern investors as well,” he added.
KFH's Priority banking aims to tap the mass affluent market and high net-worth individuals who seek consistent rate of return on their investments.
Head of retail and consumer banking Baldev Singh Bhullar said KFH was targeting 200 clients for its Priority banking services this year. At present, it has five clients since its soft launch on April 8.
“The launch of KFH Priority banking and our appointment as a Islamic unit trust distributor enables the bank to successfully leverage on our ability to cross-sell products and services to tap into a new market segment,” Jabar said.
On new branches, Jabar said KFH expected the number to increase to seven this year with one branch slated to open in Penang by the third quarter. Currently it has four branches.
“We plan to open one branch each in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu by year-end,” he said, adding that KFH planned to have Priority banking centres in all its branches.
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.
Friday, April 18, 2008
CIMB increases Islamic DALI fund sizev
TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd has increased the fund size of its CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Theme Fund to 900 million units from 600 million units.
The fund, which invests in Malaysia's promising sectors such as oil and gas, construction, and plantations, had received overwhelming response, chief executive Datuk Noripah Kamso said in a statement.
It seeks to provide investors with medium to long term capital appreciation by investing in Malaysian securities according to prevailing investment themes, she said.
The fund invests up to 98% of its net asset value in syariah-compliant equities listed on Bursa Malaysia. – Bernama
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.
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd has increased the fund size of its CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Theme Fund to 900 million units from 600 million units.
The fund, which invests in Malaysia's promising sectors such as oil and gas, construction, and plantations, had received overwhelming response, chief executive Datuk Noripah Kamso said in a statement.
It seeks to provide investors with medium to long term capital appreciation by investing in Malaysian securities according to prevailing investment themes, she said.
The fund invests up to 98% of its net asset value in syariah-compliant equities listed on Bursa Malaysia. – Bernama
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.
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