Public Mutual’s new Australian fund

Public Mutual’s new Australian fund
Written by Edge
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 13:59


KUALA LUMPUR: Public Mutual Bhd is launching a new fund, Public Australia Equity Fund (PAUEF), today to provide investors the opportunity to capitalise on the long-term growth potential of that market.
In a statement yesterday, Public Mutual chief executive officer Yeoh Kim Hong said this was on the back of Australia’s strong position in natural resources and its diversified services sector.

She said commodity exports in Australia were likely to benefit from a pick-up in demand from emerging economies such as China and India, while Australia’s services sector was supported by a wide range of services such as the property, financial, health, transportation and educational services. “In addition, the Australian government’s fiscal stimulus measures and expansionary monetary policies are expected to stimulate domestic demand and benefit both the services and consumer sectors,” she said.

Yeoh said despite the recent market rebound, both the Australian and New Zealand markets had lagged the performance of the Asian markets. Thus, she said long-term investors should tap the opportunities to accumulate undervalued blue-chip stocks, index stocks and growth stocks in the Australian market.
PAUEF is an equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period by investing primarily in the Australian market with the balance invested in the New Zealand and domestic markets. The fund will mainly focus on sectors such as the natural resources, banking, real estate and consumer segments. The equity exposure of PAUEF will generally range from 75% to 90% of its net asset value (NAV).

Yeoh said PAUEF was suitable for investors with an aggressive risk-reward profile who could withstand extended periods of market volatility in order to achieve their objective of long-term capital growth. It is also suitable for investors who seek to hedge their children’s future educational expenses in Australia.
“Investing in Australian equities is expected to keep pace with the rising cost of Australia’s university education over the long term,” she said.

The initial issue price of PAUEF is 25 sen per unit during the 21-day initial offer period until Sept 28, 2009. The minimum initial investment is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100

http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/personal-finance/148891-public-mutuals-new-australian-fund-.html

Comment:  As usual, do your own due diligence and in particular, be aware of the costs involved.