HwangDBS Announces Income Distributions For Select Income, Select Bond And Select Balance Funds
Kuala Lumpur, 2 July 2007 – HwangDBS Investment Management Berhad (Formerly known as Hwang-DBS Investment Management Berhad) (“HwangDBS IM”) declared a gross interim for its flagship fixed-income fund, the HwangDBS Select Income Fund (SIF) in addition to a final income distribution for the HwangDBS Select Bond Fund (SBoF) and HwangDBS Select Balance Fund (SBalF) for the financial year ended 30 June 2007.
For SIF, a gross interim distribution of 1.50 sen was declared, translating to a 2.70 per cent1 return on the NAV/ Unit. During the period of 31 December 2006 to 31 May 2007, the fund charted a 7.90 per cent2 growth and outperformed its benchmark KLCI / Maybank 12-month Fixed-Deposit (FD) rate weighted 20:80 by 2.10 per cent3. All unit holders registered as at 28 June 2007 will be eligible to receive the income distribution on 17 July 2007.
The SBoF in turn, declared a gross income distribution of 1.0 sen per unit which translates to a total return of 1.80 per cent4 on the NAV/ Unit. The total returns for the period from 1st January 2007 to 31 May 2007 translates to a 3.40 per cent5 outperforming its Maybank 12-month FD rate weighted by 1.90 per cent6. The income distribution will be paid to its unit holders on 11 July 2007. All unit holders registered as at 28 June 2007 are eligible to receive the income allotment.
Meanwhile, the SBalF declared a final gross distribution of 5.0 sen which translates to a total of 8.10 per cent7 on the NAV/ Unit of the fund. Unit holders registered as at 28 June 2007 will be eligible to receive this distribution. This represents the fourth income distribution declared since the inception of the fund. For the period 1 January 2007 to 31 May 2007, the SBalF registered a growth of 16.20 per cent8, outperforming its KLCI / Maybank 12-month FD rate weighted 50:50 by 4.00 per cent9.
Teng Chee Wai, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of HwangDBS IM commented, “Moving forward, our investment strategies will consider a weaker than expected US economy and overheating in the China economy. Notwithstanding, liquidity remains buoyant and we will be taking advantage of any corrections to build our position in undervalued stocks. The bond market will continue to be well supported on the back of excess liquidity with the strengthening of the Ringgit and also other economic fundamentals. We are anticipating more bond issuances in the second half of 2007 as issuers move to lock in lower borrowing cost in this current low interest rate environment.
He added, “The management of our funds is premised on an absolute return benchmark. We also strongly believe that an active asset allocation strategy and vigilance in identifying themes and stocks that can provide meaningful returns will benefit our investors. Investors who are prepared to stick with the fund over a reasonable investment horizon would benefit from this approach”.
All three funds endeavour to provide investors with a steady income stream in the form of distribution through investments primarily in bonds and/or equities over the mid to long-term and are suited for investors of a low to medium risk appetite.
1 Source: HwangDBS Investment Management Berhad as at 31 May 2007
2 Source: Lipper Hindsight as at 31 May 2007
3 Source: Lipper Hindsight as at 31 May 2007
4 Source: HwangDBS Investment Management Berhad as at 31 May 2007
5 Source: Lipper Hindsight as at 31 May 2007
6 Source: Lipper Hindsight as at 31 May 2007
7 Source: HwangDBS Investment Management Berhad as at 31 May 2007
8 Source: Lipper Hindsight as at 31 May 2007
9 Source: Lipper Hindsight as at 31 May 2007