Hong Leong and UOB forge partnership for upcoming fund
Kuala Lumpur, July 5 - HLG Unit Trust Bhd (HLG UT) today unveiled its latest fund, the HLG Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund. The new Fund leverages on the rising infrastructure spending in the Asia-Pacific region. This Fund, managed by HLG Unit Trust Bhd with HLG Asset Management Sdn Bhd as the external investment manager and UOB Asset Management (Singapore) Ltd [UOBAM] as the external foreign investment manager, is exclusively distributed only by United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd [UOB (Malaysia)] and Hong Leong Bank Berhad. Both banks are the authorised Institutional Unit Trust Agents (IUTAs) of the Fund. In addition, HLG Unit Trust Bhd’s agency force will also be selling this Fund.
HLG Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund is an equity growth fund that invests in equity and equity-related securities in the Asia-Pacific region which carry out infrastructure-related businesses. The Fund aims to provide investors with medium-to-long term capital growth by investing in securities through a portfolio of companies involved in infrastructure-related businesses in the region.
The HLG Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund is designed for investors who are seeking potential for medium-to-long term capital appreciation from investments in infrastructure-related securities. The Fund is also suitable for investors who are seeking greater diversification in their investment holdings into the Asia-Pacific region.
“To achieve the fund objective of medium-to-long term capital growth, the Fund would have exposure to a broad range of sectors, including but not limited to the transportation, utilities, capital goods, materials, engineering and construction,” said Richard Lin, Executive Director and CEO of HLG Asset Management Sdn Bhd.
“The Fund was conceptualised by UOB and hence, this leads to an exclusive distribution for UOB (Malaysia) and Hong Leong Bank. We are also confident that with the expertise of our appointed fund manager UOBAM, the Fund would be able to provide investors exposure to the infrastructure sector in the Asia-Pacific region with potentially attractive returns,” Lin added.
UOBAM offers global investment management expertise to institutions, corporations and individuals, through customised portfolio management services and unit trusts. As at March 31 2007, the company has total assets of about S$25.8 billion under management.
Through the Fund, which leverages on UOBAM’s in-depth market knowledge, investors would have the ability to tap into the rising growth of the infrastructure sector in the Asia-Pacific region. Due to the rapid growth of the Asia-Pacific markets, the need for infrastructure to aid the development of these economies would increase comparably as well.
The asset allocation for the Fund would be a minimum of 70% in equities and a maximum of 30% in fixed income securities. The performance of the Fund is benchmarked against the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan (80%) and the MSCI Japan (20%).
The new global 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 Infrastructure Fund increases HLG Unit Trust’s portfolio of managed funds to 23. 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 Infrastructure Fund has a total approved fund size of 400 million units priced at RM 0.50 per unit during the initial offer period. Minimum initial investment for HLG Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Fund is RM 1,000 while the minimum additional investment is RM 100.
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 22 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 June 30 2007, HLG Unit Trust Bhd has a combined total fund size of RM 1.93 billion.
About United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (Company Registration No. 271809K)
UOB (Malaysia) is a subsidiary of Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Limited and has had a presence in Malaysia since 1951. Today, UOB (Malaysia) has 41 branches throughout Malaysia, making it the foreign bank with the largest branch network in the country.
UOB (Malaysia) offers an extensive range of commercial and personal financial services through its branches as well as through its subsidiaries and associate companies: commercial lending, investment banking, treasury services, trade services, home loans, credit cards, wealth management, general insurance and life assurance.
For further information, please visit www.uob.com.my
About UOB Asset Management (Singapore) Ltd
Established in 1986 as a subsidiary of United Overseas Bank Limited, UOBAM has been managing collective investment schemes and discretionary funds for 20 years and as of 30 April 2007, manages about S$25.8 billion in clients’ assets. As at 30 April 2007, UOBAM manages 56 unit trusts (with a total of 37 funds and sub-funds altogether) in Singapore, with total assets of about S$3.8 billion under management. UOBAM is one of the largest unit trust managers in Singapore in terms of assets under management. In the region, UOBAM has Business and Investment operations in Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan.
UOBAM is one of Singapore’s leading Fund Managers. UOBAM is Singapore’s Most Awarded Fund Manager. Since 1996, UOBAM has won 87 Investment Fund Awards for investments in the local, regional and global markets; and across sectors.