KUCHING: Public Bank Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual Bhd (Public Mutual) is launching two new Islamic funds, namely the Public Islamic Treasures Growth Fund (PITGF) and Public Sukuk Fund (PSKF) today.
To note, PITGF is an Islamic equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period by investing primarily in small and medium sized companies, which comply with syariah principles. Meanwhile, PSKF seeks to provide annual income through investments in sukuk and Islamic money market instruments.
Commenting on the launch of these two new Islamic funds, Public Mutual’s chief executive officer Yeoh Kim Hong remarked, “Small-to-mid cap stocks generally offer higher growth opportunities versus larger stocks due to their smaller earnings base.
“The growth prospects for stocks within the universe of syariah-compliant stocks is promising as there are about 796 syariah-compliant small-and medium-capitalisation stocks presently listed on Bursa Malaysia.”
PITGF would focus its investments mainly in the domestic market, capitalising on opportunities arising from the country’s resilient economic growth prospects in the medium- to long-term.
To achieve increased diversification, the fund might invest up to 30 per cent of its net asset value (NAV) in selected foreign markets such as South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Luxembourg and other permitted markets.
According to a company statement, the equity exposure of PITGF would generally range from 75 per cent to 98 per cent of its NAV; thus, making it suitable for aggressive investors looking at participating in the long-term growth potential of small- and medium-sized syariah-compliant companies.
Meanwhile, PSKF would invest in a diversified portfolio of sukuk, comprising mainly corporate sukuk, to produce returns that would generally be higher than Islamic money market deposits.
The fund would invest at least 75 per cent of its NAV in a portfolio of sukuk such as sovereign sukuk and corporate sukuk – both listed and unlisted – of various tenures with the balance invested in Islamic money market instruments.
To achieve increased diversification, the fund might invest up to 30 per cent of its NAV in foreign sukuk. Key foreign investment markets for the fund might include Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, the UK and other permitted markets.
“PSKF is suitable for investors with conservative risk-reward temperament, seeking annual income with some safety of principal,” added Yeoh.
The initial issue price of PITGF and PSKF would be RM0.25 per unit and RM1 per unit, respectively, during the 21-day initial offer period from today until this to August 8, with minimum initial investment for both funds at RM1,000 while minimum additional investment would be RM100 thereafter.
During the offer period, special promotional service charges as low as five per cent of initial issue price per unit would be extended to the purchase of PITGF units. Investors opting for a direct debit instruction with PITGF during the offer period would enjoy a special promotional service charge of 5.25 per cent of NAV per unit, subject to the activity status of the the direct debit is active.
Both funds would be distributed by Public Mutual’s unit trust consultants nationwide.
At present, Public Mutual is the country’s largest private unit trust company with 87 funds under its management. It has over 2.5 million accountholders, with total NAV of funds managed by the company at RM44.3 billion to date.