DANAVEST

(Via Business Times) Malaysian funds will buy almost half the nearly US$3 billion of stock Maxis Communications Bhd is selling in the country’s biggest initial public offering, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Local investors that will buy shares of Malaysia’s largest mobile-phone carrier include the nation’s biggest pension fund, the Employees Provident Fund, the person said, declining to be identified. Maxis, run by billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan, will start marketing the sale on Oct. 23, the person said.

Maxis’s IPO will raise more than double the previous record in Malaysia, set by Petronas Gas Bhd’s offering in 1995. Maxis was among the country’s four biggest companies by market capitalization before Krishnan, 71, took it private in 2007 in a RM16 billion (US$1.7 billion) transaction.

Only the Malaysian operations of Maxis are included in the IPO, the person said. The company aims to complete the offering by mid-November, the person said.
Catherine Leong, a Maxis spokeswoman, declined to comment. Azlan Zainol, chief executive officer of the Employees Provident Fund, was unavailable for comment, according to his secretary.

Maxis plans to sell as many as 2.25 billion shares in the offering, it said in a draft prospectus published last month, without disclosing how much money would be raised. The Kuala Lumpur-based company will reserve 174.8 million shares for the public and customers, with the rest going to institutional investors and indigenous ethnic groups, according to the draft prospectus.

CIMB Investment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser for the offering while Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are joint global coordinators and book-runners.

Maxis had 11.4 million mobile-phone subscribers as of June 30, giving it a 40 per cent market share in Malaysia, according to the initial prospectus. The company reported RM4.24 billion ringgit of revenue in the six months to June 30.

Maxis first sold shares in Malaysia in 2002. Before the company was taken private in June 2007, it was valued at about RM40 billion on the Malaysian stock exchange. (Bloomberg)

Logo - Pacific Mutual

Petaling Jaya, 1 October 2009 – Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd, one of the leading investment management companies in Malaysia, has announced the following income distributions for five of its Funds for their financial year/interim period ended 30 September 2009:

Pacific Premier Fund – 4.00 sen per unit
Pacific Income Fund – 3.30 sen per unit
Pacific Focus18 Fund – 3.00 sen per unit
Pacific Cash Fund – 0.38 sen per unit
Pacific Protected Islamic Cash Fund – 0.10 sen per unit

This translates to the following distribution yields for investors based on the net asset value (NAV) per unit of the respective Funds prior to the distribution:

Pacific Premier Fund – 5.58 %
Pacific Income Fund – 5.80 %
Pacific Focus18 Fund – 5.48 %
Pacific Cash Fund – 0.75 %
Pacific Protected Islamic Cash Fund – 0.10 %

“Our equity funds, the Pacific Premier Fund and Pacific Focus18 Fund, have achieved a total return of 24.70% and 11.91% respectively for the one-year period ended 29 September 2009, a decent achievement given the volatile market conditions both locally and abroad over the past year. In fact, our maiden fund, the Pacific Premier Fund, which has gone through three major economic and financial crises, inclusive of the Asian Financial Crisis and the Tech bust, still achieved a total return of 130.74% since its inception in 1995. This adds to our on-going testament and investment philosophy of consistent above-average performance over the long term,” says Gary Gan, General Manager, Business Development & Marketing of Pacific Mutual.

Gan continues, “We are also proud that our balanced fund, the Pacific Income Fund, besides achieving a commendable total return of 98.53% since its inception in 2000, has also emerged as the best fund for the Malaysian Ringgit Balanced category at the Morningstar 2008 Fund Awards (Malaysia) this year.”

“Our money market fund, the Pacific Cash Fund, has performed equally well in the past year achieving a total return of 3.14% for the one-year period ended 29 September 2009. The Pacific Protected Islamic Cash Fund has generated decent returns in spite of the very low interest rates scenario at the time it was launched earlier this year,” says Gan, adding that the consistent and stable performance over time, the hallmark of Pacific Mutual’s investment style, has made the regular income payouts possible and hence, benefiting the investors of the five Funds.

Pacific Mutual now manages a total of 21 Funds, including seven global Funds and three wholesale Funds. The Company also manages private mandate funds under its asset management business. As at end September 2009, Pacific Mutual manages RM1.83 billion on behalf of its unit trust investors and private mandate clients.

Via The Edge
Written by Surin Murugiah & Darlene Liew
Sunday, 04 October 2009 23:34

KUALA LUMPUR: Unit trust fund product manufacturing and distribution must be kept separate to ensure that independent advice is given in an unbiased manner to help investors make informed choices, said AmInvestment Bank Group funds management division chief executive officer (CEO) Datin Maznah Mahbob.

The products on offer must also extend across various asset classes, from equities, bonds and commodities as well as provide investors with the option of investing abroad or locally, she said.

Speaking to The Edge Financial Daily on the sidelines of an Asian capital markets conference here last week, Maznah said the current practice among some of the larger fund management players to control the distribution of their own products prevented investors from receiving impartial advice on the products.

“For example, the agent might encourage the investors to invest in high-risk products as the fees for these products are higher compared to low-risk products. Some of the agents do not even disclose the whole range of products available to investors.

“This would not be the case if the distributor is totally independent of the product manufacturer,” she said.

She said many of the defensive low-risk products gave decent returns to investors, but these products were sometimes not offered to investors as agents found the fees to be too low for their liking.

Maznah also said trailer fees should be standardised to benefit investors as a whole, as with the present system of varied fees structure, the selling agent had better incentives to push expensive products onto investors rather than what would actually be to the benefit of the buyer.

A trailer fee is added on to the annual service fee and paid to brokers periodically as an incentive not to switch investors to other funds.

Among the charges found on AmBank Group’s website are the entry and/or exit fee that cover the cost of establishing unit trust holdings, and commissions payable by the manager to its licensed distributor.

There are also ongoing fees and expenses, clustered as management expense ratio, which include the fees for the manager and trustee, and trust expense. Other applicable charges are switching fee and transfer fee.

When asked if regulatory changes should be made to prevent expensive products being sold to investors due to the current situation, Maznah said the present structure was governed by the industry players themselves and not by government regulations.

“Although the fees are set by the industry, the commissions for distributors are negotiated. In reality, the distributors end up getting the lion’s share of the fees,” she said.

Maznah also alluded to the limitations on local investors utilising their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings, in the sense that the prevailing regulations do not allow them to invest in foreign unit trust products.

“The flow of retail funds into the unit trust industry is low due to factors like this,” she said.

AMANAH Mutual Bhd announced a net income dividend of 8.88 sen per unit both for AMB Value Trust Fund (AMBVTF) and AMB Ethical Trust Fund (AMBETF) for the financial year ended Aug 31, 2009.

The annual gross dividend income for AMBVTF was 9.14 sen per unit while AMBETF earned 9.03 sen per unit, a statement from Permodalan Nasional Bhd said here on Monday.

AMBVTF is an equity fund which gives focus to capital growth through investments in securities traded at a lower price than their actual worth.

As for the AMBETF, it is a mid to long-term equity fund which aims at income through investments in syariah based entities.

AMB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of PNB.

The dividend income will be reinvested as additional units in the respective accounts of unitholders of the funds.

A statement on the dividend and warrant distribution will be sent out by latest October 31 to unitholders of the AMBVTF and AMBETF. – BERNAMA

PUBLIC Bank Bhd launched the PB Templeton BRIC, a structured investment product, offering investors the opportunity to capitalise on the growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) economies.

Managing Director Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek said the PB Templeton BRIC provides an annual variable coupon of up to three per cent for the first three years of the investment.

“At maturity, the potential is unlimited enhanced return based on the average performance of the underlying asset performing above 110 per cent,” he said.

The investment provides customers with immediate access to invest in equities in the fast-growing developing economies of BRIC in order to capitalise on the growth potential of their economies.

The BRIC countries accounted collectively for about 30 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook January 2008.

The outlook for the BRIC economies remains positive due to their relatively strong fundamental characteristics and faster growth compared to their developed counterparts.

The accumulation of foreign exchange reserves also puts the BRIC countries in a much stronger position to weather external shocks.

Despite the global economic slowdown, the Chinese and Indian markets continued to record exceptionally robust growth rates. Brazil and Russia are likely to benefit from increasing global demand for commodities.

The key reason for investing in the BRIC markets is their long-term growth potential especially since these countries are now at a relatively early stage in their development, Public Bank said.

“The investment is suitable for investors who are seeking potentially higher returns compared to the current fixed-deposit rates without taking undue risk on their wealth if the investment is held to maturity and for those seeking to diversify their investment portfolio into emerging markets,” Tay said.

The Templeton BRIC fund is managed by world renowned investment manager, Franklin Templeton Investments, which is one of the largest investment management companies in the world.

The investment is for a three-year nine-month period via Floating Rate Negotiable Instruments of Deposit and is 100 per cent capital-protected in Malaysian ringgit if held to maturity.

The product is available from today till Oct 2, with a minimum investment of RM65,000, with multiples of RM5,000 thereafter. – BERNAMA

Public Growth Fund – 4.00 sen per unit
Public Islamic Opportunities Fund – 2.00 sen per unit
Public Islamic Select Enterprises Fund – 1.25 sen per unit
Public Bond Fund – 5.00 sen per unit
Public Islamic Select Bond Fund – 3.50 sen per unit
Public Islamic Income Fund – 2.50 sen per unit

(The Edge) MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd (MEASAT) today announced the successful lift-off of the LandLaunch launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan carrying the MEASAT-3a satellite into orbit.

(The Edge) Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS), which posted its first operating loss in 2 1/2 years in the first quarter, does not have any staff layoff plan although the operating environment is increasingly challenging, according to its chairman Tan Sri Munir Majid.

(Business Times) THE Malaysian insurance industry is undergoing a transformation to provide a strong foundation for a more resilient and competitive industry in support of Malaysia’s economic development agenda. Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) assistant governor, Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim, said Malaysia has implemented the risk-based capital framework this year and new product regulations. He said these developments were part of a broader move towards introducing a more principle-based regulatory regime that would allow greater flexibility for insurers to compete and improve performance.

(Business Times) HONDA Malaysia Sdn Bhd is confident of achieving its sales target of 35,000 units of vehicles for this year despite the gloomy economic outlook. Its managing director and chief executive officer Toru Takahashi said as of May this year, the company had sold 17,313 units of vehicles.

(Business Times) MALAYSIA’S real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 4.4 per cent this year before recovering to 2.2 per cent next year and 5.3 per cent in 2011, the World Bank said in its report on the global economic situation.

(Business Times) SYARIKAT Takaful Malaysia Bhd (STMB), which has RM4 billion in assets, aims to be the largest takaful insurer in the country in terms of assets within two years. Group managing director, Datuk Hassan Kamil, said currently, STMB was in second position after Etiqa Takaful Bhd, which has 400,000 policyholders.

(Business Times) MALAYSIAN stocks have risen “too far, too fast” given that corporate earnings will shrink this year, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said in a strategy report. “The market rally has stretched valuations to levels unjustified by earnings growth,” Andrew Lee, an analyst at Maybank Investment, wrote in the report. “An economic and corporate earnings recovery is likely to be anemic.”

(Bernama) The country’s first fully-automated shipyard will be in operation at the Tanjung Agas Oil and Gas and Maritime Industrial Park here in 2013. It will be part of a RM4.8 billion project that comprises a fabrication and engineering yard, and marine repair and ship-building facilities on a 320-hectare site.

(Bernama) Sabah’s Rural Development Ministry has allocated RM370 million to implement five agropolitan projects to help farmers in rural areas. Its minister Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin said that this showed that the government was working towards improving the livelihood of the people, especially those in the rural areas.

(Bernama) The life insurance industry is still growing despite the discouraging economic condition, Life Insurance Association of Malaysia president Adnan Zain said. “The traditional life insurance business is showing a good development.

(Bernama) Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) will offer more than 70 travel fairs globally until 2010, its senior general manager, sales, Datuk Bernard Francis, said Monday. The airline will continue to aggressively push sales in the Asean region, South Asia, North Asia, Australia, the Middle East, the Americas, and South Africa, he said.

(Bernama) A total of 44,736 projects worth RM4.2 billion have been tendered for implementation under the first economic stimulus package as of June 12 this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Monday. He said 13,365 projects worth RM1.5 billion had been completed involving small projects such as upgrading and repair works on rural roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.

(Bernama) Blue Archipelago Bhd will be exporting prawns to the European market with the setting up of a hatchery and processing factory at its farm here worth RM20 million this October. Its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Shahridan Faiez, said the processing factory will have the capacity to process 20 tonnes of fresh prawns a day.