Malaysian Investment House Launches Asia Fund, Targets RM500 Million Subscription

Tom Burroughes

16 May 2016

CIMB-Principal Asset Management, the Malaysia-headquartered firm, has launched a fund targeting capital growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

The fund is called the CIMB-Principal Asia Pacific Dynamic Growth Fund; it targets an annual return of 9 per cent over the medium to long term. The managers aim to get RM500 million of subscriptions by the end of this year.

“The fund adopts a flexible and dynamic asset allocation strategy, where under general market conditions, we will invest in equities, while under adverse market conditions, the fund may invest all or a substantial portion of its assets in debt instruments, money market instruments and/or deposits to achieve the investment objective,” Munirah Khairuddin, chief executive of CIMB-Principal, said in a statement late last week.

“The pace of change is accelerating in Asia-Pacific, and equities in this region have matured significantly. While some parts of the world are still struggling to find growth, Asia-Pacific presents significant opportunities due to its growing population and high urbanisation rate. The emergence of the urban middle class has created a huge increase in private consumption and infrastructure spending, which are important contributors to the region’s vibrant growth,” Munirah said.

The fund is an open-ended vehicle offering a number of currency share classes: the Malaysian ringgit, Australian dollar, Singapore dollar or the US dollar. The fund is offered in Malaysia for subscription with a minimum initial investment of RM1,000, S$1,000, $1,000, or A$1,000 respectively.

Investors can purchase the fund from unit trust consultants of CIMB-Principal , CIMB Bank and Alliance Bank. Other banks will be added soon, the firm said. HSBC Trustee has been appointed as the trustee of the fund.

To date, CIMB-Principal has a total of 63 unit trust funds , 19 wholesale funds, 10 private retirement scheme funds and two exchange-traded funds.