New fund focuses on Asia-Pacific’s burgeoning real estate industry
Kuala Lumpur, August 8 - HLG Unit Trust Bhd (HLG UT) today launched its latest fund, the HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund. The new Fund leverages on the rapidly growing demand for Asia-Pacific’s property sector.
HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund is an income and growth fund that invests into a diversified investment portfolio containing a mixture of fixed income securities and structured derivatives/options. The Fund will primarily invest into fixed income investments to seek regular income and stability of capital. At the same time, the Fund will also attempt to attain long-term capital growth and steady recurring income by investing into structured derivatives/options that offer exposure to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and property related equity securities from the Asia-Pacific region.
The new Fund was launched at a ceremony today by Mr. Richard Lin, Executive Director and CEO of HLG Asset Management Sdn Bhd and Mr. Teo Chang Seng, Executive Director and Acting CEO of HLG Unit Trust Bhd.
The HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund is designed for conservative investors who are seeking a regular income stream and capital stability. The Fund is also suitable for investors who are seeking potential upside from property sectors/real estate asset class as well as greater diversification in their investment holdings through exposure in foreign markets.
“To achieve the fund objective of regular income and long-term capital growth, the Fund would invest into structured derivatives/options that offer exposure to REITs and property related equity securities from the Asia-Pacific region,” said Lin. These structured derivatives/options which are linked to an underlying asset or a pool of underlying assets such as indices, funds, strategies, equities and/or other investments related to Asia-Pacific real estates; would provide investors exposure to the fast-growing Asia-Pacific property market.
The asset allocation for the HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund would be a minimum of 70% in fixed income investments and up to 20% in structured derivatives/ options. As the Fund aims to distribute a targeted income of 8% per year and achieve moderate capital appreciation over the long-term, the benchmark for the Fund is 8% returns per annum over the long term.
The new fund will play an important role in positioning HLG Unit Trust Bhd as among the major unit trust players in the industry. The inclusion of the HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund increases HLG Unit Trust’s portfolio of managed funds to 24. Other funds currently managed are from a diverse range of products that include a selection of Islamic Shariah-compliant unit trusts, growth funds, equity funds, balanced funds, sectoral funds as well as bond funds.
The HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund has a total approved fund size of 600 million units priced at RM 0.50 per unit during the initial offer period (from August 8 2007 till August 28 2007). Minimum initial investment for HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund is RM 1,000 while the minimum additional investment is RM 100.
HLG Asia-Pacific Property Income Plus Fund is distributed through both HLG Unit Trust Bhd’s agency force and through selected Institutional Unit Trust Agents (IUTA) namely, Hong Leong Bank Berhad, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad and ABN Amro Bank Berhad.
About HLG Unit Trust Bhd
Incorporated on October 5 1994, HLG Unit Trust Bhd is an established unit trust management company, and a member of the Hong Leong Group Malaysia. Its core business is the management of unit trust funds.
Here at HLG Unit Trust Bhd, everything we do reflects our tagline “Making Opportunities Work”. Making opportunities work is central to what we do. In the world of investment, it is all about being able to spot the right opportunities and at HLG Unit Trust Bhd, we strive to make them work for our investors.
The company already manages 24 unit trust funds to date, which are distributed nationwide through multiple channels. Direct and channel distribution activities are supported by the HLG Unit Trust Bhd’s strategic nationwide sales support infrastructure. This includes our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and six sales support offices nationwide in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.
As at July 31 2007, HLG Unit Trust Bhd has a combined total fund size of RM 2.31 billion.
About Hong Leong Group Malaysia
From its humble beginnings as a trading company in 1963, Hong Leong Group Malaysia has expanded steadily in tandem with the growth of the nation of Malaysia through entrepreneurship, investment foresight and innovation to its present size and position with core businesses rooted in key sectors. Based in Malaysia, the Group today controls 14 listed companies in various stock exchanges around the world with a total market capitalisation circa USD 11 billion and over 500 operating subsidiaries and associate companies. The Group's globally diversified core businesses are firmly rooted in the key sectors of financial services, manufacturing & distribution and property development & investment.