My Investments with Public Mutual

In a previous article on Public Mutual, I talked about my first unit trust investments.

Yesterday, I added some more to my investments. The usual routine took place whereby my unit trust consultant came to my house, we chatted a little, signed a few forms, and my consultant goes away with a smile on her face (because of the commissions of course). Hehe.

An interesting information to share, she told me that beginning from January 2008, the service charge for individual investors has been reduced to 5.5% and for EPF investors, around 3%. That’s good news for the investors (still a bit too high) but bad for the unit trust consultants because of reduced commissions 😉

I topped up my current holdings of Public Asia Ittikal Fund (PAIF) and Public Islamic Dividend Fund (PIDF).

I also invested in 5 new funds of various risk profiles and investment strategies. They are:

1. Public China Ittikal Fund (PCIF) – Aggressive – International
2. Public Islamic Sector Select Fund (PISSF) – Aggressive – Domestic
3. Public Islamic Asia Dividend Fund (PIADF) – Moderate – International
4. Public Far-East Property & Resorts Fund (PFEPRF) – Moderate – International
5. Public Islamic Enhanced Bond Fund (PIEBF) – Conservative – International

In terms of geographical location of my funds, about 50% of my portfolio is invested in the domestic market and another 50% in the international market.

In terms of risk allocation, around 62.81% of my portfolio is invested in aggressive funds, 28.3% in moderate funds, and 8.26% in conservative funds.

I am feeling a bit nervous of the Public China Ittikal Fund (PCIF) though. Don’t get me wrong, I am rather confident that China will be a force to be reckoned with in the long-run (that’s the reason why I put my money there) but with regards to the short-term outlook, I am feeling a bit skeptical.

I asked my unit trust consultant on what she thinks will happen to PCIF within the next 12 months. According to her, her adviser had told her that we might see PCIF rallying till the Beijing Olympics 2008. So, perhaps, I might hold on to PCIF up until the Olympics, then switch funds, let it cool down a little, then re-enter? Hmm, we’ll see how it goes.

On another matter, we had seen the Chinese Stock Market absurdly marched into higher territory year after year. Do you reckon that a stock market bubble is forming in China? Is there going to be a huge bubble burst in China like we what we had in the global market back in 2000 (IT bubble burst)?

Honestly speaking, I don’t think we can compare these two together. The two situations are totally different. The Chinese stock market advancements are driven by strong and valid fundamentals. This is evident in the year after year China’s economic growth. Commodities are being fed into the World’s factory which are then transformed into amazing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Perhaps this year, we might see a slowdown, but who knows, China might stun the world once more.

The IT bubble on the other hand was based on nothing concrete. No fundamentals, no nothing. In fact, there were a lot of IT companies whom share price went up astronomically even though they were not bringing in any earnings into the company. They were just there raising capital for nothing.

All in all, we’ll see how it goes. After all, when it comes to investments in EQUITY unit trust funds, we need to look long-term of 5 years and more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE 15/01/2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was told by my unit trust consultant that the Public Islamic Sector Select Fund (PISSF) is not open for new investments anymore (fully subscribed). The same thing goes to the non-Islamic Public Sector Select Fund (PSSF). So, in replacement of my initial plan of PISSF, I’ve put my money in the newly launced Public Far-East Consumer Themes Fund (PFECTF).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ END OF UPDATE 15/01/2008~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: This article is not a specific nor general advice on managing or investing your money. This article does not constitute a recommendation nor does it take into account your investment objectives, financial situation nor particular needs.

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