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Showing posts with label EPF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EPF. Show all posts

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Generating sustainable retirement income

 


Many Malaysian are EPF contributors and have FDs as well. "You will never understand how bad the feeling is when you have to break your fixed deposit to cover your living expenses."

ONE of the top financial concerns of retirees is running out of money.

Whether you were an executive earning a reasonable income, or if you are making top dollars as a businessman, the fear is still valid.

For example, Tommy, who left the working world soon after selling his factory to a European multinational corporation. Tommy shared during one of our meetings that he was golfing every week and globe trotting almost every other month.

However, there was a problem that greatly bothered him. He found that he was dipping into his fixed deposit every now and then just to maintain his interesting lifestyle.

“Yap, you will never understand how bad the feeling is when you have to break your fixed deposit to cover your living expenses, ” he said.Combing through all of his finances, we discovered that Tommy’s lackadaisical attitude was to be blamed. He has not been paying enough attention to invest and generate income from the RM12mil nest egg that he had painstakingly accumulated. His investment portfolio was a mess.

Over the years, he invested in a few properties but never really bothered to oversee them. When tenants left, he didn’t make an effort to secure new tenants. In fact, some properties were even sitting vacant and idle. His excuse? He was too busy running the business.

Yap Ming Hui
Yap Ming HuiYap Ming Hui

Tommy has also invested in some shares and unit trusts but he seldom monitors and reviews their performances. Imagine his surprise when he went looking for some extra cash but discovered that most of the investments were not making money. Prior to meeting me, he couldn’t decide whether to sell or to keep those underperforming investments.

Consequently, the bulk of Tommy’s wealth is in fixed deposit. The trouble is the interest income from fixed deposit barely covers the impact of inflation. As such, if Tommy continues to spend on his interest income, he will risk having the principal depleted.

Asset rich, income poor

Tommy’s problem is a typical case of “Asset Rich, Income Poor.” His situation is definitely not unique. In fact, I find most self-made millionaires or business owners, typically strong at creating wealth from their business or professional career, but poor at generating income and gain from the created wealth.

For one, all the time spent ensuring their businesses succeed also takes them away from making sure that the wealth created is optimised.Let’s examine Tommy’s assets and see how it measures up (see chart).

The RM6mil in fixed deposit generate approximately 2% interest income. However, notice that the 2% of interest is not sufficient to offset the 4% inflation provision. As a result, there is negative net income coming from Tommy’s fixed deposit asset.

Tommy’s properties are worth RM3mil and only generates RM50,000 in rental income per annum. Nevertheless, this can be considered a net income because inflation will be hedged by capital appreciation (at least 4% per annum) of the properties.

The RM1mil in shares gives a total return of 5%. Factoring 4% inflation, the actual income received from share investment is RM10,000.

Unfortunately, the RM2mil unit trust investments didn’t offer any returns. After inflation provision, his unit trust investment has a net income of RM80,000.

The reality is if nothing is done now, Tommy’s wealth will continue to shrink by RM140,000 a year once inflation is factored to the equation. How does this play out for Tommy? The fact that he needs RM360,000 a year to maintain his current lifestyle will not augur well for him.

So, how can you prevent from ending up in Tommy’s situation?

The optimisation measures

> Remember to review the performance of each of your investment asset classes. In order to generate more income and gains, be proactive in getting rid of poor quality and poor performing investments. Look at each investment and ask yourself, should you keep it or should you sell?

> Consider moving fixed deposit into higher return investment.

Any gains from your fixed deposit would probably be eroded by inflation, especially given the current low interest, which will probably persist for quite some time. After calculating and providing for your emergency fund cash reserves, the balance of your fixed deposit should be invested into other investments that can generate higher return and income to hedge against inflation.

> Diversify the source of retirement income

Even if one investment asset can give you a good income and hedge against inflation, it does not mean that you must bet all or the majority of your wealth in it. For example, property investing. Some investors have found success in it. They were able to generate good capital appreciation and rental income.

As a result, they put a majority, if not all, of their wealth into properties. It may sound logical at first but rental income is not sustainable in the long run. It is subjected to changes, some of which cannot be controlled. Therefore, the best practice is still to diversify your retirement income across different asset classes, like share dividends and capital gains, unit trust gains, bond investment gains, retirement income products and others, so that it is not badly affected by any one impact.

The ability to grow your wealth during retirement years is important. Just because you have stopped working, it does not mean your money should stop working too. The idea behind wealth optimisation is to ensure that you can upkeep your retirement lifestyle and protect your wealth from inflation.

Ideally, one should get a plan done a few years prior to retirement to see how your retirement income would play out. After all, you wouldn’t want to have any unpleasant surprise, like in Tommy’s case. When you have time on your side, you can improve your investing skills and adjust your retirement plan accordingly while still in your active income earning years.

Yap Ming Hui is a licensed financial planner. The views expressed here are the author’s. Any reliance you place on the information https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/01/09/generating-sustainable-retirement-incomeshared is therefore strictly at your own risk.
 

Friday, February 28, 2020

Malaysia's economic stimulus package of RM20bil to mitigate Covid-19 impact

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/02/28/gdp-target-within-reach?jwsource=cl

Minimum EPF contribution by employees to be reduced by 4% from 11% to 7%, with effect from Apr 1 to Dec 31, 2020. This will potentially unlock up to RM10 billion worth of private consumption. Malaysian workers have the option to opt out from the scheme and maintain their contribution rate
    KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had on Thursday unveiled the RM20bil stimulus package to offset the fallout from the Covid-19 coronavirus.

    Below are the highlights:

  • Based on three strategies: counter Covid-19 impact, boost people-based growth, encourage quality investments 

  • • Bank Simpanan Nasional provides RM200mil micro credit at 4% interest rate

  • • MAHB to cut rental for tenants, landing charges and parking fees at airports

  • • Postponement of income tax monthly payment for tourism-related companies

  • • Bank Negara provides RM2bil guaranteed financial aid for SMES at 3.75% interest rate

  • • All banks required to reduce monetary burden in the form of postponement of payments or rescheduling of loans

  • • Temporary six months discount of as much as 15% for electricity bills for hotels, tourism agencies, airlines, and shopping centres

  • • Hotels to get service tax breaks from next month to august

  • • Economic growth for 2020 expected to be between 3.2% and 4.2%

  • • Minimum EPF contribution by employees to be reduced from 11% to 7%, with effect from april 1 to dec 31. This could unlock up to RM10bil worth of private consumption. Malaysian contributors have the choice to opt out from the scheme and maintain their contribution rate

  • • A payment of RM200 to all bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) recipients scheduled for May will be brought forward to March. an additional RM100 will be paid into the bank accounts of all BSH recipients in May. Subsequently, an additional rM50 will be channelled in the form of e-tunai

  • • As a result of the stimulus package, fiscal deficit estimated to increase to 3.4% of GDP from targeted 3.2%

  • • Grants of RM1,000 to RM10,000 for entrepreneurs to promote the sale of their products on e-commerce platforms

  • • Securities Commission and bursa Malaysia will waive listing fees for one year, for companies seeking listing on Leading entrepreneur accelerator Platform (LEAP) or Access, Certainty, Efficiency (ACE) markets, as well as companies with market capitalisation of less than RM500mil seeking listing on the main market

  • • Import duty and sales tax exemption on importation or local purchase of machinery and equipment used in port operations for three years commencing april 1

  • • Enough source of money for now, no issuance of bonds needed

  • • Stimulus package to be funded by RM2 trillion savings from bank Negara, Tabung Haji, EPF

  • • Bureaucratic procedures will be expedited to disburse stimulus

Read more:

Thursday, November 30, 2017

EPF investment income rises 5.13% in Q3 to RM12.95 bil, has benefited from overseas equities

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) reports an increase in quarterly investment income to RM12.95 billion for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (Q3 2017), despite recorded net impairment of RM791.55mil in the third quarter, more than double the impairment made a year earlier. The EPF posted a 74% surge in investment income to RM11.8bil in the first quarter and a 36.6% growth to RM11.51bil in the second quarter.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) today reported an increase in quarterly investment income to RM12.95 billion for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (Q3 2017), up 5.13 per cent, from RM12.32 billion recorded during the same period last year.

“The EPF’s overall portfolio performance has benefited from the rally in overseas equities markets in the third quarter of 2017,” Investment Performance, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Investment) Datuk Mohamad Nasir Ab Latif said today.

He said the pension fund did not see similar returns from the domestic equities market as the FBM KLCI performance was flat compared with other markets, which recorded between two and five per cent growth.

The EPF recorded a net impairment of RM791.55 million, in the quarter under review, in accordance with the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS 139), and this was higher compared with RM349.59 million recorded in the same quarter last year, he said in a statement today.

This is due to the higher provision recorded for domestic equities in the telecommunications and oil and gas sectors.

In the third quarter of 2017, equities, which made up 41.86 per cent of EPF’s total investment assets, contributed RM7.91 billion of income or 61.09 per cent of the total investment income.

The income recorded was 12.75 per cent higher than RM7.02 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter in 2016, he said.

As at September 2017, a total of 50.45 per cent of EPF’s investment assets were in fixed income instruments which recorded an income of RM4.49 billion, equivalent to 34.63 per cent of the total quarterly investment income, said Mohamad Nasir.

Out of the RM4.49 billion, Malaysian Government Securities & Equivalent recorded RM2.17 billion in the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 10.96 per cent or RM213.98 million, from RM1.95 billion recorded in the same quarter in 2016, in line with the growth of the portfolio.

Loans and bonds, however, generated lower investment income of RM2.32 billion compared with RM2.56 billion in the same quarter last year, he said.

Investments in Money Market Instruments and Real Estate and Infrastructure each represented 3.53 per cent and 4.16 per cent of total investment assets, and contributed an investment income of RM274.27 million and RM263.83 million, respectively, in the third quarter of 2017.

“Our current investment in money market instruments is above the targeted three per cent under the Strategic Asset Allocation due to the ongoing regulatory restrictions in new overseas investments.

Over the long-run, the EPF must continue to expand our foreign assets portfolio as it is key to our diversification and allows us to meet our return targets,” said Mohamad Nasir.

As at Sept 30, 2017, the EPF’s overseas investments, which accounted for 30 per cent of its total investment asset, contributed 48 per cent to the total investment income during the quarter.

Diversification into different asset classes in various countries and currencies had helped the EPF to record higher income for the quarter, despite a significant difference in market performance, globally.

Out of the total RM12.95 billion investment income for the third quarter of 2017, a total of RM860.83 million was allocated for Simpanan Shariah, which derived its income solely from its portion in Shariah assets, while RM12.09 billion income was allocated for Simpanan Konvensional, which is generated by its share of both Shariah and non-Shariah assets, he said.

The value of EPF investment assets reached RM771.20 billion, a 5.48 per cent or RM40.09 billion increase from RM731.11 billion, as at Dec 31, 2016.

Out of the total investment assets, RM370.10 billion or 48 per cent, were in Shariah-compliant investments and the balance in non-Shariah assets.

“We still have one more quarter before the year-end and we are confident that our diversification into various asset classes will enable us to meet our real dividend target of at least two per cent above inflation over a three-year rolling period, for both Simpanan Shariah and Simpanan Konvensional,” he added.

The EPF posted a 74% surge in investment income to RM11.8bil in the first quarter and a 36.6% growth to RM11.51bil in the second quarter.

Source: BERNAMA

Related Links:


Highest EPF dividend in two decades - Nation





EPF 2Q investment income rises 37% to RM11.5b | The Edge Markets

 

 

1 Malaysian Ringgit equalsvv0.24 US Dollar

Chart of exchange rate values over time





Malaysian Ringgit Forecast - Trading Economics

https://tradingeconomics.com/malaysia/currency/forecast
The Malaysian Ringgit is expected to trade at 4.20 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations.








Sunday, July 26, 2015

Ageing together: it takes a nation, family; more children if you can afford to

THE Government cannot face the challenges of an ageing nation alone, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun says.

The problem requires a joint effort involving the Government, local councils, developers, insurance companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals, she says.

“Everybody must be responsible and do their part,” she insists.

Giving an example, she says developers should plan townships for senior citizens to grow old within the community “like one big family”.

She says local councils also play a very important role in ensuring that the roads and buildings are accessible to the elderly.

To encourage collaborations between the NGOs, the Government gives incentives to corporations to run corporate social responsibility projects, she says.

She says individuals have to plan for old age by keeping healthy and active and saving for their future needs.

On plans to build more homes to accommodate the growing number of seniors, she says the ministry hopes to de-institutionalise homes because a family environment is always better.

However, legislation forcing grown children to care for their parents, is “not the way”, she stressed.

She says cultivating values like filial piety by stressing on the importance of family bonds through education, is preferable.

“We have nine (registered) old folks homes nationwide with a total of 1,590 residents.

“And, there are an additional two homes housing more than 200 bedridden residents, 70% of whom are above age 60.

“If we accept residents too easily, some will just send them to us because it’s convenient,” she says, adding that five activity centres for seniors will be built in addition to the existing 45 nationwide. The number will be increased steadily.

She says ‘caring complexes’ housing both seniors and orphans are in the pipeline.

“The idea is for kids to cheer up the seniors while learning from their elders,” she says.

She says better health services have led to Malaysians living longer with couples now having to care for their children, parents and grandparents.

Acknowledging that it’s a huge financial burden, she says the ministry is trying to educate young couples on how to better plan for their family.

Explaining that family planning isn’t just about birth control, she says it entails managing family finances.

“We’re not asking couples to give birth blindly but if you can afford to, you should have more children,” she says.

On June 14, Sunday Star front paged how urban parents can expect to pay as much as the combined price of a luxury car and a semi-detached house to raise a child up to degree level. The report followed a remark by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim urging Malaysians to have more kids to address the projected shrinking population.

National Council of Senior Citizens Organisations Malaysia president Datuk Dr Soon Ting Kueh is “very disappointed” that the country’s seniors were left out of both the 10th and 11th Malaysia Plan, lamenting that the elderly are a neglected lot.

“There is no social security for the old,” he points out.

Calling for a national forum to be held fast, he cautions that the country may reach aged nation status even before 2030.

“Everyone will grow old. The only question is when.

“We must tackle these challenges together but the Government has to spearhead the solution with a detailed development plan.”

While supportive of the Government’s call for couples to have more kids, he feels that it won’t solve the problem.

Suggesting a private pension fund be set up, he says it will ease the financial burden on families caring for their old parents while giving the seniors a sense of independence.

Seniors who are poor and without family must be cared for by the Government, he insists.

“There aren’t enough government old folk homes nationwide,” he says.

“We need at least 90 but we don’t even have one per state.”

Those who can afford private nursing homes are also suffering, he says.

He estimates there are some 4,000 private centres nationwide but only slightly more than 200 are regulated.

“Some pay between RM500 and RM600 to live in very poor conditions where seniors are hosed down instead of getting a proper bath.

“These unlicensed homes are stinky and the living conditions very undignified,” he says.

He feels that country’s healthcare system also needs to be improved.

“The waiting time is too long and there are not many geriatric doctors.

“The seniors will be dead by the time they get treatment,” he says, only half-in-jest.

But, he stresses, the seniors themselves must grow old with dignity by keeping active.

Soon’s deputy, Susan Suah, says there’s a need for aged-friendly housing.

The interior designer is working to come up with building guidelines. Some problems in current housing include the lack of bathrooms on the ground floor, switches that are too high up and poor lighting, she says.

“We have rooms for maids but not for old parents?,”she says adding that aged-friendly homes must be made mandatory.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (School of Social Sciences) associate professor Dr Saidatulakmal Mohd notes that while some supermarkets and shopping centres have started becoming aged-friendly, none of the new housing developments are.It’s worse when residential houses are converted into nursing homes for the elderly as it has been proven to be non-conducive to their wellbeing.

“We don’t need to wait until Malaysia becomes an aged society. Many of the elderly are already being abandoned and abused, she says.

“While it’s easy to point to the Government for a solution, it’s important to note that welfare aid for seniors has risen over the years.”

To cover rising public healthcare costs, she anticipates higher taxes for the future generation.

But unlike their parents, youngsters today don’t expect their children to care for them in their old age.

“This is because they are facing financial hardship providing for their family while supporting their aged parents and don’t want their children to go through the same thing,” she explains.

She calls on the Ministry of Women, Family and Community to bring back the ‘elderly in the community’ initiative to promote active ageing.

To be a developed nation by 2020, we need active seniors who can contribute to the nation but this is only possible if aged-friendly infrastructure is ready and the elderly are financially supported.

“In the UK, I saw seniors shopping for groceries, paying their own bills and eating out - which is rare here.

“In Malaysia, seniors are seen as ‘abandoned’ if they do these things themselves.

“The perception needs to change.” - The Star/Asian News Network

Related:

Image for the news result
Not ready to age

Saturday, December 31, 2011

2012, a new year’s field of wishes


A new year’s field of wishes

ON YOUR OWN by TAN THIAM HOCK

TODAY is the last day of 2011. Congrats for having survived another business year. Hope you have stayed healthy too.

As an entrepreneur, based on a scale of one to 10, have you had a good year? Moderate year? Or just another year that you would like to forget? What are your wishes for 2012 and beyond?

What if I start an entrepreneur wish list that I will send to our dear Prime Minister? Would you support me and write to me the one wish that you think should be included in the list? But please do not send me letters or post cards as I have no intention of physically delivering the sack loads to Putrajaya. It is bad for my poor back and also my golf swing which will then go from bad to worse.

And no long messages or long winded explanations either. He is a very busy man. If possible, keep it to one word. That should catch his attention.

If you are still uncertain on how to approach the one word, perhaps, I can be of some help. For instance, we will have an acronym eWISH1M which is one Malaysian entrepreneur wish. Then, from the dictionary, just pick one word and I am sure his circle of advisors and strategists will be able to analyse it from many different angles, some of which even you are not aware of. Here is an example:

To our dearest YAB PM eWISH1M “field”



If his super smart advisors interpret field as an expanse of open or cleared land suitable for pasture or tillage or playing, then he will recognise the wishes of the people to preserve the few green lungs and playing fields left in Klang Valley. Instruct the State Economic Development Corporations and and Government-Linked Companies to forego the development and profit potential and leave open fields alone.

Maybe one of the advisors will realise that fields like Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, Sg Buloh should have been earmarked for low cost housing. Maybe it is possible to build three bedroom high rise apartments at a cost of RM 150,000 (no land cost) to cater to the needs of the poor.

What they deemed as valuable land should be used to house a valuable workforce that will feed the needs of the commercial capital of Malaysia. No poor man can afford a minimum RM400,000 house that will be built on this rubber field.

Malaysian entrepreneurs of all races are asking for a level playing field. Where opportunities are not hijacked by the privileged few. Why should a small retailer under the Economic Transformation Plan, have to borrow RM60,000 to revamp his store so that he can survive the onslaught of foreign hypermarkets when under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), a very successful local multi millionaire retailer be given RM40mil to open retail stores? The GTP should be helping the needy, not the greedy.

On the field of expertise, the PM should be worried when the Employee's Provident Fund (EPF) second their chief investment officer (CIO) to manage a bank when the CIO should be managing our RM400bil savings. Like the other sovereign funds Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Permodalan Nasional Berhad, EPF should stick to their field of expertise which is fund investment and not fun management.

Even though it is quite intoxicating to act as powerful entrepreneurs when you are not, the supreme fund managers of our sovereign wealth and pension funds should realise that they are accountable to the citizens of Malaysia who are shareholders and stakeholders in the wealth of the nation.

In addition to fielding winnable candidates for the coming elections, the PM should appoint intelligent and capable field generals as ministers. Generals who can lead the nation into international economic battlefields not shrieking racial rhetorics in local fields. Generals who can field any MACC question and know what their family is up to. INTELLIGENT1Minister should be your next mission should you agree to accept your reappointment as PM-1.

Corporate Malaysia Inc operates like magnetic fields where greedy entrepreneurs are drawn to inept politicians and corrupt officials. Either you lead the field or you leave the field. Those in power reap the fields. Losers are sent to the killing fields.

And I will end my message to our dear PM with a plea Restore HONOUR1M.

Unfortunately, this might just be one word too many for his super smart advisors to comprehend. And wishful thinking on my part. Final reality check.

On a personal note, I have written on issues outside the field of entrepreneurship and as such will leave the field to the real writers.

It had started out as a challenge from the ever gracious CEO of Star Publications (M) Bhd and thanks to him, I now have a better appreciation of responsible journalism. And how not being able to write freely on issues close to your heart can be detrimental to your golf swing and your soul.

Many thanks to friends who texted and emailed their support. To those who wrote to me for all the right reasons, you kept me going week after week. Much appreciated.

To all eWannabes, Good luck.

To all entrepreneurs, Happy New Year.

The writer is an entrepreneur who hopes to shares his experience and insights with readers who want to take that giant leap into business but are not sure if they should. Email him at thtan@alliancecosmetics.com

Biz Talk 2011-12-17 Currency integration questioned (Video)

Biz Talk 2011-12-17 Currency integration questioned CCTV News - CNTV English

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Investing in Malaysian unit trust industry


High fees dampener for unit trust

By DALJIT DHESI daljit@thestar.com.my

Unit trusts are gaining popularity among investors as an important source of investment and retirement savings. But are investors getting a fair deal from the high charges being imposed by the industry and will lower charges really mean better returns for investors?

THERE is nothing that really fazes a seasoned investor. They are used to losing and making money on the stock market. They understand the game.

But if there's one thing that irks veteran investor Jason Yap, who has been a unit trust investor for a decade, is that he already starts losing money before he has a chance to make a profit.

What irritates Yap, who is a retiree, is the high upfront fee he has to endure, and that has a profound impact on the return on his investment.


“The upfront fee of between 5% and 7% is rather high and should be lowered for us to enjoy better returns. The upfront charge one has to pay when buying into a fund will impact the returns received from the fund. It is pointless to invest in something that at the end of the day will bite into' the returns or monies received from the particular investment.

“Many of us have taken out monies from our savings to invest in unit trusts. For unit trust to be effective in boosting retirement savings, the charges should be lowered or even abolished,” he adds.

That argument is as old as the industry itself. Since establishing its roots in 1959, the unit trust industry in Malaysia has grown steadily over the years and has really blossomed since the various periods of market turbulence, especially the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98.

Foo says a dichotomy exists in Malaysia where different rates are being charged to different entities.
 One of the major qualms among investors for some time now is its high sales charges.

The main grouse has been the upfront charges, which is money people have to pay when they buy into a fund. Then there is the exit charges, which are money paid when they cash out of a fund, and the annual management fee, which is a charge imposed by the fund to manage people's money.

The current upfront fee ranges from 5% to 6.5% on the invested amount, except for money from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to invest in funds (under the EPF Members Investment Scheme) which is capped to 3% since Jan 1, 2008.

The exit fee may be 1% or higher but much depends on the structure of the fund. The annual management fee ranges from 1% to 1.5% and the trustee fees is from 0.5% to 1%.

A call to review sales charges

Is there a need for the industry to review its charges to make the unit trust industry more appealing to investors? Some industry observers think so.

Malaysian Financial Planners and Advisors Association (MFPAA) deputy president Robert Foo thinks front-end fees should be reduced or completely removed so that investors can enjoy higher returns.

The other purpose of such a radical but common practice in matured markets is that the whole industry can then move from a sales push culture to that of a professional advisory culture where investors can work with licensed and professional financial advisors if they so wish.

“It should be noted that in developed countries like Britain and Australia, there is a regulatory push for such financial products to be delivered on a fee for service basis rather than on a high push environment with upfront sales commissions. In Britain, the government has legislated that by Jan 1, 2013, all financial products are not allowed to have commissions attached.



“Agents or financial advisors are required to charge investors directly for services provided, therefore ensuring that their interest aligns with that of the investors,” he adds.

Foo, who is also the managing director of licensed financial planning company MyFP Services Sdn Bhd, says a dichotomy exists in Malaysia where different rates are being charged to different entities.

For money withdrawn from the EPF, people pay 3% to buy into a unit trust, but for walk-in customers, they are charged 6%.

“Does it mean that your EPF money is more valuable than your hard cash?” he asks.

“I think the upfront fee is too high and eats into the returns of investors. The average compounded rate of return of equity unit trusts in Malaysia over the last 10 years is only about 7.5% per annum, and losing 6% upfront is too high a cost for investors,” Foo says.


An industry observer says the Securities Commission should consider compelling unit trust companies to waive the upfront charges, similar to funds under Fidelity Investment, which is one of the largest mutual fund companies in the world with over US$1.46 trillion in assets under management.

Foo says it is cheaper to buy funds through the Internet, for example through www.fundsupermart.com.my or eunittrust.com.my, which imposes an upfront charge of 1% to 2%.

Much higher than regional peers

Licensed financial planner Jeremy Tan of Standard Financial Planner Sdn Bhd says the upfront fee is considered high compared with countries like Singapore and Hong Kong.

Tan says that depending on the sophistication of the product, the unfront fee in Singapore ranges from 3% to 5%, but adds that there is an alternative platform for investing in unit trusts, with upfront fees ranging from 0.75% to 2%, depending on the amount invested. In this latest alternative, there is a wrap fee of up to 1% per annum.

He says the alternative is also available in Malaysia, where the upfront fee is lower than what is currently charged by investing directly through the fund house.

He expects the industry to eventually lower the charges in line with other Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Foo says that due to the open nature of the Hong Kong and Singapore markets, where local funds have to compete with global fund houses at the retail and wholesale market sector, the fund companies can reduce the upfront charges to even zero. Also, there is no tied agency structure in these countries unlike Malaysia.

Lower charges, better returns?

Those arguing for lower charges will undoubtedly look at the average return of 7.5% per annum over the past decade by unit trust firms and say a lower fee will bump up returns.

Tan, however, believes lowering the sales charges will not necessary provide better returns to investor. It depends on the performance of the fund manager or the fund house in relation to the funds invested among others.

Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd executive director and CEO Gary Gan concurs. He says the performance of a fund and its relevance to investors is key rather than merely looking at charges.

At the end of the day, the basic rule of investing is making an informed decision. This means investors need to have sufficient information and knowledge of the product they are investing in, he notes.

MAAKL Mutual Bhd CEO Wong Boon Choy says any attempt to restructure the front-end and back-end charges will require very careful study and strong will on the part of the authorities to make tough changes to the rules and regulations on existing distribution channels which is dominated by a tied-agency system.

“Agent commissions have already been compressed when the EPF capped the maximum service charge to 3%. This translates to more than 50% reduction in the normal service charge. The front-end service charge is the primary means of compensating the agents for the service they provide to investors,” he explains.

Wong, who is also the president of the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM), estimates the tied agency force to be over 60,000 at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, Areca Capital Sdn Bhd CEO Danny Wong feels the market should determine the fee structure as ultimately good performance and achievingthe investor's objective are more important.

 
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Tan says the upfront fees are considered high compared with Singapore and Hong Kong

He says there are funds with upfront fees distributed by banks or unit trust companies as well as those with almost no front-end fees being solddirectly by niche fund managers or via online portals. He points out that there is no evidence of superiority of either practice as the choice of investment is left to the investors.

Lowering or abolishing sales charges, says Steve Lim, chief product officer of HwangDBS Investment Management Bhd, will provide investors a quicker path to garnering returns on their investment, but at the same time, might encourage many to make regular withdrawals.

From the perspective of unit trust management companies, the lowering of sales charge to 3% has helped change investors' mindset and allowed them to realise that unit trust is a viable investment and pension planning instrument, Lim adds.

CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd CEO Campbell Tupling says the industry fee structure in Malaysia is primarily on the front-end as the back-end fees are not significant.

Alternatives

“Investors know what they are paying for. Fees are transparent and clearly stated. Investors are free to choose how they wish to be serviced. There are other means of investing at a lower cost, for example exchange traded funds (ETFs). However, investors have yet to embrace ETFs in a meaningful way,” he adds.

With high sales charges of unit trust funds, which generally are open ended funds, will it make more sense for investors to switch their investments into close-end funds or other instruments like ETFs?

iCapital.biz Bhd managing director Tan Teng Boo does not think so. Unless the fund manager has an excellent track record, he says it is hard to promote and list a close-end fund like icapital.biz Bhd on Bursa Malaysia.

Tan says any such fund has to go through an initial public offering process and is not so profitable for fund management companies to promote and list close-end funds as there are no entry fees or front-end loadings or commissions, he adds. At the same time, he says investors in Malaysia are not familiar with closed-end funds.

icapital.biz Bhd is the only listed closed-end fund in the country.

From the company's records, icapital.biz Bhd's cumulative returns for the five-year period (between Oct 19, 2005 and Dec 30, 2010) stood at 109%. (Note: the fund was not traded on Dec 31, 2010).

The top half of the Equity Malaysia Funds (equity unit trust funds) returns range from 84% to 196% during the five-year period (Dec 31, 2005 to Dec 31, 2010).

Wong says that in general, unit trust funds are more popular than closed-end funds. With the so-called guaranteed buy-back feature, investors can be assured that the unit trust management company will buy back their units in the event the investors need to make a redemption or liquidation.

“Unlike unit trust funds, the trading price of the closed-end fund is dictated by market force and investor sentiment. In the event the investors of the closed-end funds want to liquidate their holdings, they can only liquidate or sell through the brokers on the stock exchange where the units are subject to the market forces of supply and demand.


“Therefore, the prices can be volatile in the secondary market where investors may sell their units at a discount or premium. In this case, liquidity is one of the major concerns for investors of closed-end funds,” he says.

Foo feels investing in closed-end funds or open-end funds has its pros and cons, but much depends on the skill and capability of the investment manager to deliver the returns by taking advantage of the inherent features of the two structures.

Tan of Standard Financial Planner says more research and analysis on close-end funds is required before investing, compared with unit trust investment where the fund's objectives of distribution policies, inherent risks, minimum investment period are clearly spelt out in its prospectus.

Every investor wants to preserve capital invested and a return corresponding with the risk taken, he explains.

Currently, there are over 580 unit trust funds in the market compared with only five listed ETFs on Bursa, namely CIMB FTSE Asean40, CIMB FTSE China 25, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ETF, MyETF Dow Jones Islamic Market Malaysia Titans 25 and ABF Malaysia Bond Index Fund.

For example, returns to date (Jan 1 to Oct 31) of FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ETF stands at -0.16%. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down 2.71% during the same period.

Lim says ETFs can be a good choice for investors who have knowledge of the stock market and have the expertise to make investment decisions on their own. For the normal saver, however, unit trusts tend to be more appropriate as the investments are managed by professionals who have the skill sets to make complex investment decisions.

Gan, however, feels investors should consider other factors rather than solely relying on returns data. Factors like volatility of the instrument and fund size are equally important when investing in a particular fund.

Growth momentum and key challenges

With the current uncertainties in the global economy coupled by the eurozone debt crisis, is the unit trust industry able to ride out the global economic slowdown to continue its growth path?

Industry players generally think the industry will continue to grow albeit at a slower phase. CIMB-Principal's Tupling projects a low single-digit growth for the rest of the year and anticipates the industry's asset under management to grow about 5% to RM104bil this year.

In terms of net asset value (NAV), the investments in unit trust funds held by 14 million account holders stood at RM240bil last year compared with RM44bil in 2000, an increase of about 45% per annum.

Wong feels the market should determine the fee structure as good performance and achieving objectives are vital.
He says that new investment in equity funds has slowed but it is not a significant drop, adding that redemptions are also lower than expected.

The growing risk aversion, he says, will result in higher demand for more defensive and conservative asset classes like dividend-yielding equities and fixed income securities.

Lim of HwangDBS expects single-digit growth this year due to poor market sentiment and high risk aversion in view of the uncertainties in the global economy.

He says the main challenges faced by the industry is the need to address the question on how growth momentum can be maintained as well as to promote unit trust fund as a staple in building long-term wealth. He says there is also a need to change the short-term investor mindset.

Gan says while the current gloomy outlook may have impacted equity funds, not all can be lumped in the same boat. Funds like Islamic and money market are thriving and the factors that will ultimately attribute to industry growth is how well funds perform and deliver products that meet investor needs.

Areca Capital's Wong expects the industry to continue growing at a double-digit rate. With investment markets getting more volatile, he says investors may find it harder to grow their investments resulting in migration of more funds into the fund management industry.

Competition from international players is the other main challenge for local players, he notes. To face the challenges, Wong adds innovativeness and excellent service standard is needed.

It is therefore important to allow different types of business models and strategies to combat that threat, especially when facing the establishedgiant international players, so that each player will continue its role and find its niche within the industry, he says.

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