Amanah Saham Nasional unit to raise up to RM200mil via US-dollar denominated fund

KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Amanah Mutual Bhd (AMB) is set to raise up to RM200mil via the AMB Global Income Trust Fund, for which it plans to invest between 70% to 99.5% of the net asset value in fixed-income instruments.

AMB chief executive officer Aldilla@Zilfalila Abdul Halim (Sheila Halim) said the fund, which is US dollar denominated, would focus on five sectors, namely banking, diversified financial services, transportation, mining, and real estate.

“We lean towards Asia but we have identified five countries, namely China, Hong Kong, Australia, Turkey and India, which we will focus on. Apart from that, from time to time, we will conduct portfolio rebalancing,” she told a media briefing.
 
The fund, which is a closed-end fund fixed for a three-year tenure, will give investors 4.20% payout in the first and second years, and 5.30% in the third year.

The initial issue price for the fund is RM1 per unit for 45 days initial offer period beginning July 17, 2017.

The minimum initial investment is RM1,000, while the minimum additional investment is RM100.

On market condition, Sheila noted that business sentiment was still in recovery mode, with business loan applications contracted in April and May 2017.

“So, on domestic front, a hike in the Bank Negara Malaysia’s (overnight policy rate) may prompt banks to raise average lending rate which in turn may affect the cost of business loans, while posing a downside risk to domestic growth,” she said.

 AMB is currently managing 16 funds, of which five are syariah-compliant.

Meanwhile, in a statement, AMB announced a new fixed income fund, AMB Global Income Trust Fund (AMB GIT).

AMB GIT is an investment grade close-ended global bond fund with a three-year finite life, with the objective of providing income through annual distribution payout for two years, followed by a bullet payment at the maturity date of the fund on Sept, 14 2020, AMB said.

“AMB GIT, which invests in a diversified portfolio of fixed income instruments across all sectors and geographical markets, brings the total number of funds currently under the management of AMB to 16, and of which, five are syariah-compliant funds,” it added.

AMB GIT has been opened for subscription beginning July 17, 2017 with an offer period of 45 days until Aug 30, 2017.

AMB also introduced its new business partners, namely Amundi Malaysia as AMB GIT’s investment manager, RHB Bank Bhd as the fund’s anchor bank, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd as the custodian and trustee and Maybank as the accounting and valuation service provider. - Bernama