PMB Investment targets RM2bil assets under management

KUALA LUMPUR: Pelaburan Mara Bhd's unit, PMB Investment Bhd, is on track to achieve RM2 billion in assets under management (AUM) by next year from RM1.16 billion so far. 

Chief executive officer Ameer Ali Mohamed said the company was expected to achieve RM1.4 billion worth of AUM this year, driven by investment in major companies, Syariah premium funds, Syariah aggressive funds and Syariah growth funds. 

He said the increase would be contributed by portfolios mandates, comprising mutual funds belonging to organisations that appointed PMB Investment as manager. 

So far 25 per cent of PMB Investment's activities involved unit trusts, while 75 per cent portfolio mandates, he told when announcing the second phase of the #ARIFLABUR programme here on Thursday. 

At the event, Pelaburan Mara also announced the performance of PMB Investment's unit trust funds and actor Wan Hafizol Wan Omar, popularly known as Fizo Omar, as ambassador of the #ARIFLABUR. 

Meanwhile, Pelaburan Mara Chairman Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said the unit trust industry recorded grew 0.6 per cent to RM357 billion in the 12 months ended July 2015 compared with a 7.8 per cent increase between July 2013 and July 2014. 

For Syariah-compliant unit trust funds, he said the net asset value rose 8.5 per cent to RM49.253 billion in the 12 months ended July 2015 compared with an 18.7 per cent increase from July 2013 to July 2014. 

"The unit trust industry faces daunting challenges following uncertainty in the financial market. 

"The decline in growth in the value of the funds may be associated with the FBM Syariah Index and the KLCI Index falling 7.5 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively in the 12 months ended July 2015 compared with an increase of 8.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively in the previous 12 months," he said. - Reuters