August 19, 2010 15:26 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, August 19 (Bernama) -- OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd has launched its OSK-UOB Capital Protected World Mining Fund, offering investors participation in the hard commodities sector.
"With the stabilisation of the global economies after the global financial crisis, we have seen a significant recovery in prices of hard commodities," said executive director and chief executive officer Ho Seng Yee at a media briefing here Thuirsday.
"The underlying asset of the call option is the World Mining Vol Target 10 Per Cent Index which provides a dynamic exposure to the performance of the BlackRock Global Funds World Mining Fund," he said.
Ho said the fund's option strategy was structured to capture and generate returns through its underlying asset.
Based on analysis of past performance, he estimated a seven to eight per cent performance gain per annum for the fund.
The four-year close ended capital protected fund aims to provide capital appreciation while protecting investors' capital on the maturity date.
With a fund size of 100 million units, it is offered to the investing public at an initial price of RM1 per unit.
"We expect global recovery to be on track although at the current level the recovery rate is slowing down and is a bit volatile, but moving forward to the next two to four years, there will be positive growth globally," Ho said.
"The prices of base metal, bulk commodities and precious metal have all risen and these prices are likely to remain well supported from demand growth coupled with supply side constraints," he said.
According to Ho, capital protected funds are good when the market is volatile, enabling investors to invest in something conservative but providing reasonable returns over time.
"If you are a hardcore fixed depositors, probably you can take out some deposit and asset, and allocate it to this type of protected fund that offers you protection and at the same time reasonable returns," he said.
The offer period for subscription of units is from August 17 to September 30, 2010, with a minimum investment amount of RM1,000.
On the chances of a double dip recession, Ho said it might be a possible but the possibility of it happening was only 15 to 20 per cent.
"Most of the major economic indicators globally do not reflect the recession environment but the market remains volatile as always," he said.
To date, OSK-OUB Unit Trust Management has launched seven different funds and is looking to launch three or four more funds by end of this year.
Ho said the company was targeting to achieve RM5.6 billion in managing funds and it would be an achievement to hit RM6 billion.
As at July this year, the company is managing funds worth over RM5.34 billion.
The company is a joint venture between the OSK Group and the United Overseas Bank Group with a shareholding of 70 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.
-- BERNAMA
From BERNAMA.com published onAugust 19, 2010 15:26 PM
