6th Income Distribution For HwangDBS' Flagship And Award Winning Fund, The HwangDBS Select Opportunity Fund
Kuala Lumpur, 16 August 2007 – HwangDBS Investment Management Berhad (“HwangDBS IM”) declared a gross income distribution of 12 sen per unit for unit holders of their flagship and award winning HwangDBS Select Opportunity Fund (“SOF” or the “Fund") for the financial year ended July 31, 2007. All unit holders registered as at 27 July 2007 are eligible to receive this income distribution.
The income distribution of 12 sen per unit for SOF translates to an investment return of 11 per cent based on the NAV per unit of RM1.0445 as at 27 July 2007. This also represents the 6th and highest income distribution since the Fund was launched in September 2001. Investors who have invested in the Fund since inception would have doubled their capital outlay. SOF’s repeated success this year was recognised with the award from The Edge-Lipper Fund Awards 2007 for Best Equity Malaysia Fund over 5 years.
Commenting on the market review over the past few months, HwangDBS IM Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Teng Chee Wai said, “Both the domestic and global markets have continued to race ahead with the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) scaling new heights not seen since pre-crisis days. In fact, the KLCI has been one of the best performing markets in the region and has become a hot favourite among foreign investors.”
He continued, “Despite the recent fall in most major markets due to the US subprime mortgage market crisis, the Malaysian market is still ranked among the top performing markets in Asia. Despite the outflows from our market due to shorter-term investors taking profit in view of the uncertainties with regards to the US economy, we are confident that this is a healthy correction and believe that the market will pick up as some stocks start to look attractive again.”
“In terms of performance, the SOF achieved outstanding returns over the past one year in tandem with the overall positive market outlook and news flow. We have also been active in the regional markets on the foreign exposure portion and this has helped contribute to the overall growth of the Fund. Our strategy has always been to focus on absolute returns and active portfolio management. In short, regardless of market conditions, we have been able to maintain SOF’s consistently above average returns over the past six years by leveraging on the emerging themes and stocks before it has reached its extreme exuberance,” he added.
“As we move into the later part of the year, we believe that the current market situation will improve and the Malaysian economy expected to pick up. This will be supported by local catalysts for the stock market which will pave the way for more positive news flow going forward. Fundamentally, local funds should perform well, especially since valuations are reasonable and earnings momentum is positive. We maintain our neutral stance although there bound to be intermittent corrections along the way but we view that as a good time to accumulate value stocks as long-term economic fundamentals are still supportive,” Teng concluded.
Since inception till 30 June 2007, SOF outperformed the KLCI benchmark, registering a performance of +263.29 per cent1 compared to the benchmark that registered a +121.07 per cent2 growth. The Fund is a growth type equity fund with foreign exposure and seeks to achieve consistent capital appreciation over the medium to long term by investing mainly in listed Malaysian companies with good growth prospects.
1 Source: 30 June 2007, Lipper
2 Source: 30 June 2007, Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI)