Article about Balanced Fund at Public Mutual website

The ugly truth about our Financial needs

The following blog entry is not meant to scare you but just to inform you on some financial statistics and my take on it.

Studies have shown that most people finished their retirement savings, ie EPF within ten years. There are some who finished them within three years. I did read it in a newspaper somewhere, but forgot to make a cutting out of it. However, I found this on the internet. Look at the 31.07.05 entry

The following is taken from Public Mutual’s brochure titled ‘Ensuring Your Pathway to Financial Freedom’. The assumption that we spend RM40,000 per annum is very true to me, because I do keep track of my expenses, and surprisingly it does reach an average of RM40,000 per annum. And it IS alarming that, assuming after retirement, we require the same amount of money per annum, then, after taking into consideration the inflation rate, and how after retiring at 60 years old, we have about 20 years more with no regular income, then, we need to have at least RM1,143,376 to get us through:

"Retirement Planning

The key to a comfortable retirement is being able to maintain the lifestyle to which you’re accustomed as well as having the option to do more: more travel, more time with your grandchildren, more whatever you choose. Having that option lies in having the foresight to start planning now.

Here’s an example: your goal is to retire in 20 years and maintain your current lifestyle during retirement. Let’s assume you currently spend about RM40,000 per annum to maintain your current lifestyle. If inflation remained at 2.4% per annum, in 20 years’ time, that annual expenditure would grow to RM64,278 per year. In other words, you would need RM1,143,376 to last you for 20 years in retirement (assuming that inflation is constant at 2,4% and retirement funds are saved in a capital preserved vehicle, such as a fixed deposit account that gives you a return of 3.7% throughout your retirement years). RM1,143,376! Quite a tall order you might say- but all you have to do is save RM1,928 per month into an investment vehicle that returns 8% per annum for 20 years. However, if you had started investing 10 years earlier (ie for 30 years), you would only have to put aside RM762 per month. The earlier you start saving, the harder your money can work towards your retirement."

In terms of initial lump sum money, the following is my calculation. Let’s use above Public Mutual’s brochure figure of RM1,143,376 as our target saving. Let’s use Public Ittikal actual returns as an example again. This way, we are assuming that there will be three market crashes per ten years, which I think is quite reasonable. Let’s say we are 30 years old now. And we will retire at the age of 60 years old. Since Public Ittikal’s actual returns span for 10 years only, let’s duplicate that 10 year returns 3 times so that it becomes thirty years. Using my preset calculation table using excel, the initial lump sum money that we need to invest is RM35,500, with the following breakdown, in order to get RM1,143,376 in 30 years:

Year	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Annual Return (%)	-10.53	22.27	29.99	-18.42	18.84	1.23	28.95	7.24	12.91	46.13
Accumulated Return (RM)	31761.85	38835.21	50481.89	41183.13	48942.03	49544.02	63887.01	68512.43	77357.39	113042.35

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
-10.53	22.27	29.99	-18.42	18.84	1.23	28.95	7.24	12.91	46.13
101138.99	123662.64	160749.07	131139.09	155845.69	157762.60	203434.87	218163.55	246328.47	359959.79

2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033	2034	2035	2036
-10.53	22.27	29.99	-18.42	18.84	1.23	28.95	7.24	12.91	46.13
322056.02	393777.90	511871.89	417585.09	496258.12	502362.09	647795.92	694696.35	784381.64	1146216.90

So, it’s up to you. You can either put in a lump sum money of RM35,500 and let it grow for 30 years (and make sure you don’t get tempted to withdraw it halfway through ;-) ), or you can, as per Public Mutual’s brochure above, save RM762 per month for 30 years.

The paper cutting below shows a worse statistic (click to enlarge): Most Malaysians not saving for retirement. If you are reading this blog, then, I think you are not one of them, but, I think, it’s good if we remind our family and friends about this fact, so that they don’t become the statistics

Unit Trust Funds DO provide better returns than ASB in the long run

You might wonder how unit trust investments would fare against Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB). It's really hard to say because the unit trust market is very unpredictable as opposed to ASB which gives out dividend at a consistent 7-10% every year. But, maybe I can use Public Ittikal’s actual performance as an example. However, please note, as usual, PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS. Public Ittikal is the oldest Public Mutual Islamic Fund, launched in 1997. As a result of that, it has gone through all the ups and downs of the unit trust market for the past 10 years. This include the 1998 economic crisis (‘gawat’ period), the 2001 dotcom bubble burst and 2003’s SARS when the returns sometimes even went into the negatives. However, you will see that even after taking all of those years into account, the returns from Public Ittikal after ten years are still higher than ASB. Let’s take an example of a lump sum investment of RM50,000 on the first year of investment (1997) in both ASB and Public Ittikal.

The table below shows the actual yearly returns of Public Ittikal in percentage for the past ten years, and the accumulated returns in RM for an initial lump sum investment of RM50,000.

Year	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Annual Return (%)	-10.53	22.27	29.99	-18.42	18.84	1.23	28.95	7.24	12.91	46.13
Accumulated Return (RM)	44735.00	54697.48	71101.26	58004.41	68932.44	69780.31	89981.71	96496.38	108954.06	159214.58

The table below shows the actual yearly returns of ASB (including bonus) in percentage for the past ten years, and the accumulated returns in RM for an initial lump sum investment of RM50,000.

Year	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Annual Return (%)	11.5	10.5	12	11.75	10	9	9.25	9.25	9	8.55
Accumulated Return (RM)	55750.00	61603.75	68996.20	77103.25	84813.58	92446.80	100998.13	110340.46	120271.10	130554.28

As you can see, the difference is almost by RM30,000. And that is if we just leave the money in the Public Ittikal fund and not do anything about it when there is a market crash. If there is a market crash and we protect our investment by following the methods I mentioned in here, we might do even better

So, it’s clear that saving in a Unit Trust Fund DO provide better returns than the other high performing investment vehicle out there

Public Mutual launches Public Islamic Asia Balanced Fund or PIABF

Today, Public Mutual launches a new fund, Public Islamic Asia Balanced Fund (PIABF). As we all know, when there's a word Balanced in it, we know that the exposure will be about 50% in Equity and 50% in Bonds and Money Market. The difference between this fund and PIBF is that, with this fund, 60% of the fund's net asset value will be invested in selected regional markets which include Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and other approved markets.

Personally, to me, since I am quite young, I don't prefer investing in Balanced Funds. When we are young, we prefer to take risks and so, I prefer investing all of my money in funds which are exposed to almost 100% in Equity. If I were to group people into age groups and the type of funds they should be investing into, it would be something like below:

Type of Funds	Age range
Equity Funds	18-45 years old
Balanced Funds	46-55 years old
Bond Funds	56 years old and above

Of course there are other factors too like income, and lifestyle etc, but you get what I mean. If you don't like living on the edge, then, this fund would probably be suitable for you. But if you do, then, you might want to give this a pass.

If you are interested, then, you know the drill. The issue price is RM 0.25 per unit. Public Mutual, as usual, during the initial offer period of 21 August 2007 to 10 September 2007, extends a promotional service charge of 5.45% of NAV. However, an additionally new promotion this time is that Investors who opt for Direct Debit Instruction with PIABF during the offer period will also enjoy promotional service charge of 5.45% of NAV per unit for as long as the Direct Debit is active. Minimum initial investment is RM1,000 and minimum additional investment is RM100. For more info, visit http://www.publicmutual.com.my/

Switched back from PIBOND to PIOF

After seeing how the stock market staged a rebound on Monday here, I switched back the units I transferred to PIBOND back to PIOF. However, this morning news on worrying outlook on credit crunch here makes me think that I might be wrong in thinking that the market is starting to recover :-(

Playing the Market, aka Protecting our Investments

All of us wish that our unit trust funds will forever grow and grow. However, in reality, since Unit trusts also invest in the stock market, it is also exposed to its volatility, as is evident right now with the KLCI plunging due to US sub-prime mortgage market woes and the subsequent credit crunch worries that affect markets around the world (I hate it that US dictates every aspect of our lives, including the Stock Market >:-( ). As a result, all Equity unit trust funds (like PIttikal, PIEF, PIOF, PIDF, PAIF, PIADF) take a nose-dive too. Returns in the highs of 30-50% at its peak at the end of July dwindled to 20-40% in just a matter of days. So, what can we do to protect our investments? Of course we can take our money out, also called repurchase in Public Mutual Unit trust transactions. However, at the same time, we want to continue saving our money in unit trusts, and thus, some time in the future after taking out the money and the market has stabilized again, we will reinvest the money in unit trust again. However, what we have to remember is that, when we reinvest, we will be subjected to the Service charge again, which range from 5-7%. So, we roughly need the fund to perform with a return of at least 10% (from buying the unit trust twice) before we recover our money or break even and start generating returns. Is there a better way of protecting our investments? The answer is yes. Public Mutual offers switching, where we can switch from one fund to another, and this include switching to Bond funds (like PIBOND and PIEBF). As we know, Bond funds are basically loans, with almost consistent returns. The good thing about Bonds is that they are not exposed to the Stock Market. So, when the stock market is going through a rough period, we can switch to Bond Funds, and can rest assured that our returns that we have accumulated so far won't be wiped out in a matter of days. When the market has stabilized again, we can reswitch to Equity funds. The advantage to this is two-fold- first, we save from paying the Service Charge twice, and secondly is that, if we switched when the price is at its peak, and reswitch when the price is low, we will get more units in the Equity Fund than we initially have, with the same amount of money. Take for example, the current situation. Let's say on 29 July 2007, when the cloud started to appear due to the US sub-prime woes, we switched 4,599 units to PIBOND. PIOF Buy Price on that date is 41.75sen/unit. Therefore, we get RM1,920 from the sale. PIBOND Sell Price is RM1.0107, and so we get 1875.02 units from the switch. Let's say we switch back to PIOF today (16 August 2007) when PIOF Sell Price is 34.48sen/unit. Today's PIBOND Sell Price is RM1.0103/unit, and so, for the 1,875.02 units we get RM1,894. So, at 34.48sen/unit, we get 5,493units, an increase of almost 1,000 units!! or to convert it to monetary value, RM308.8, or in percentage 16%. That's not such a bad return for an 18-days period. And that is how we 'Play' in this Unit Trust Fund market. Of course price drops in Unit Trust Fund is never preferred, but when things are bleak, we want to protect our investments, and this is one of the ways that we can do it (note: Actually, PIOF declared its distribution of 4sen/unit on 31 July 2007, or about 10% (the main reason for the significant price drop), and so, the actual return from the 'Play', is only 6%, but still not such a bad work considering it's in 18 days only. It all sounds so good, doesn't it? But where's the catch? Well, for every switching, you have to pay RM25. So, if you have very little investment, maybe it's not worth it. So, what would be the best minimum amount to have in your account before you can consider switching? There's no hard and fast rule to this, but in my opinion, it should be about RM10,000. You might want to do switching a little at a time, and not all. The thing is, we can never predict what's going to happen in the world of the Stock Markets. Follow your instincts and read the Business news. Or if you want, you can ask me.

To explain the above better, here's the calculation in tabled form:

Switching from Equity Fund to Bond Fund
Date	Switch from	No of Units to Sell	Buy Price on Date	Amount Sold	Switch to	Sell Price on Date	No of units bought
29-Jul-07	PIOF	4,599 Units	41.75sen/unit	RM1,920	PIBOND	RM1.0107/unit	1875.02 units
Switching from Bond Fund to Equity Fund
Date	Switch from	No of Units to Sell	Buy Price on Date	Amount Sold	Switch to	Sell Price on Date	No of units bought
16-Aug-07	PIBOND	1875.02 units	RM1.0103/unit	RM1,894	PIOF	34.48sen/unit	5,493units

nalysis
Unit difference (in bold)	RM equivalent	Percentage of initial investment
894	308.25	16.05

To tell you the truth, the above example is exactly what I myself did on 29 July 2007. I switched some of my PIOF to PIBOND. However, I still haven't switched my money back to PIOF. I want to ride this storm out first, and see when the time is right to reinvest again. Although I have to say, I did knock myself in the head because I switched just two days before Public Mutual declared PIOF distribution. I completely forgot that PIOF's Financial Year End is 31st July. However, I didn't regret switching, because, I know if I had waited any longer, I would never have the guts to switch, and would painfully watch my returns accumulation dwindle little by little

P/s: You need to open a bond account if you want to do this. PIBOND is now close, and so, if you want to do this, you need to open PIEBF (Public Islamic Enhanced Bond Fund)

World-wide stock market took a plunge

Due to US sub-prime mortgage market woes (see here for background: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6939757.stm ), world-wide stock market took a plunge. Malaysia stock market was not spared. From a record high of 1,392 on 24th July, 2007, KLCI dropped to a low 1,287 (a drop of more than 100 points) on Friday, 10th August, 2007. Unit trust prices also dropped significantly. On the bright side, this is the best time for bargain-hunting. So, any of you who want to buy more unit trust, should do now when the price is low

Advantage of Mutual Gold

What is the advantage of Mutual Gold? With Mutual Gold, you are waived of RM25 switching fees when you want to switch between funds (ie unlimited switchings between all loaded funds). Not only that, the following is also what you will enjoy when you reach that milestone:
1) Red Carpet banking privileges with Public Bank,
2) Free Public Bank Credit Card,
3) Will-writing and trust services with Amanah Raya Berhad,
4) Free subscription to Public Mutual 'Thrive' lifestyle magazine,
5) One business day cheque issuance for repurchases,
6) free Personal Accident Insurance
7) Dedicated hotline for all you Public Mutual transactions,
8) special discounts at hotels and restaurants
9) Dedicated Mutual Gold section on Public Mutual website,
10) Quarterly Account summary, Market updates and quarterly fund reviews through email, invitation to Seminars and Talks

Mutual Gold qualifying points (MGQP) is for you to invest a total minimum of RM100,000 in Public Mutual Unit Trust Funds

How to choose between Public Mutual's different Islamic Unit Trust Funds?

There are many types of Public Mutual Islamic Unit Trust funds. How do you choose the one(s) best for you?

To me, there are three catogeries of Public Mutual Islamic Unit Trusts:

1) Funds which money is invested in Big-capped companies: PIttikal (closed), PIEF, PIDF

2) Funds which money is invested in Small-capped companies: PIOF

3) Funds which money is invested in Overseas companies: PAIF and PIADF