Category: Investments

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning funds in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Mohd Fauzi Mohd Tahir: Thank you! We are indeed honoured and at the same time humbled to be awarded FSMOne’s Recommended Unit Trust. The RHB Big Cap China Enterprise Fund aims to provide quality and large cap exposure to China equity. The Fund is able to invest flexibly in multiple sources of “China alpha”, from onshore A-Share exposure to Hong Kong-listed China shares and even China ADR “American Depository Receipts” listed on the stocks exchanges in the United States.

The RHB Emerging Market Bonds Fund is feeding into United Emerging Markets Bond Fund, which aims to maximise returns, with high yield and capital appreciation over the longer term, by investing primarily in Emerging Markets debt investments and products.

The RHB Global Allocation Fund is feeding into BGF Global Allocation Fund. The Target Fund seeks to maximise total return by investing globally in equity, debt and short-term securities, of both corporate and governmental issuers, with no prescribed limits.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

MFMT: Some of the key challenges over the last 12 months include the intense governmental and regulatory scrutiny on the different industries. Global growth was revised lower because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 situation in China. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is far from over and any drag or escalation would further exacerbated commodity prices and thus negative implications on global inflation and growth.
In addition, the zero-COVID policy of the China government is also causing some concerns on the potential growth rates in China. Lockdowns in China in pursuit of zero-COVID policy has further disrupt the supply chain and add to production constraints.

However, we do think that we are at the tail end of these well-flagged governmental and regulatory scrutiny. In fact, the China market is at an important inflection point in terms of the change in government and policy stance, from intense scrutiny to loosening of numerous sub-sectors. Furthermore, we also believe that the Chinese government is well aware of the economic impacts of the zero-COVID policy in China and is already
implementing policies to counter these impacts.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

MFMT: We believe that China is a structural growth story that will persist over the medium- to long-term, despite the current short-term volatility. China is set to be the largest economy in the world, within the next one or two decades. In this current rate hike and tightening environment that investors are seeing in most parts of the world, China is in fact doing the opposite – cutting benchmark interest rates and easing on multiple fronts, including monetary, fiscal and regulatory loosening.

We remain opportunistic as the rate tightening moves are seen to be gradual and at a much more managed pace to support economic recovery. We recommend buying bonds if the market weakens, albeit short-term market dynamics remain volatile mainly due to market sentiment. However, economic and technical fundamentals remained intact.

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning funds in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Munirah Khairuddin: Principal Asia Pacific Dynamic Fund Growth invests primarily in the Asia Pacific excluding the Japan region, such as companies that are domiciled in, listed in, and/or have operations or businesses that focus in the Asia Pacific ex Japan region. With effect from 14 May 2021, the Fund may also invest up to 20% of its NAV in companies that are listed globally with some operations or businesses within the Asia Pacific ex Japan region to capture growth opportunities.

Principal Islamic Asia Pacific Dynamic Equity Fund: The Fund is predominantly an equity fund which invests through securities of companies domiciled in, listed in, and/or have significant operations in the emerging and developed markets of Asia Pacific ex Japan. Significant operations translates to major businesses of the company. For example, the Fund can invest in a company with significant business and/or operations in Thailand but listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Principal Asia Pacific Dynamic Mixed Asset Fund: The Fund is managed with the aim to provide investors with income and capital appreciation over the medium- to long-term through investments in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan region. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective through a diversified portfolio investment in equities, debt securities, money market instruments and/or Deposits.

Principal ASEAN Dynamic Fund: The Fund is managed with the aim of achieving stable and positive investment returns over the medium- to long-term through investments in the ASEAN region regardless of market conditions. The companies invested in must be domiciled in, listed in, and/or have significant operations in the ASEAN region. The Fund has the flexibility to adjust its investment exposure to equity and/or debt securities
and money market instruments depending on market conditions.

Principal Greater China Equity Fund: The Fund is a feeder fund that invests at least 95% of the Fund’s NAV in the Schroder ISF Greater China, a fund of the Schroder International Selection Fund, an open-ended investment company registered in Luxembourg. The Target Fund invests primarily in equity securities of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan companies; hence, investment risk is expected to be higher than a
globally diversified fund.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

MK: The biggest challenge last year was still very much the pandemic which continued to cause widespread concern and economic hardship for consumers, businesses, and communities across the globe. Our firm spent the bulk of our time responding to the effects of the global pandemic on our workforce and business continuity. One of the challenges we faced is to operate both safely and economically at the same time and we have been able to do so through the means of technology.

We continue to ensure our clients are handheld by establishing ongoing communication through educational materials, online webinars, relationships call and social media.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

MK: In Asia, we have a slight preference for equities over bonds. The outlook for Asian equities is turning more positive since China has reopened, internet regulation is turning more benign and PE multiples have de-rated. Our conviction in risk assets would rise after we go through the current round of earnings downgrades, the first month of Quantitative Tightening and inflation shows some signs of peaking. Within bonds, we prefer local and regional to global developed market fixed income.

We like characteristics like quality, earnings resilience, growth visibility and reasonable valuations. We like companies that have scope for self-help, for example, on adjusting service/product offerings, managing costs, optimising their capital structure via share buybacks and/or higher dividends. We continue to look for opportunities include reopening beneficiaries (internet platform giants, consumer) and infrastructure spending plays. Factors and themes include high dividend yield, quality, inflation-hedges (selective staples, healthcare, materials, agriculture), decarbonisation (renewables) and beneficiaries of previous under-investments (energy, materials).

The comments that US Federal policy could go beyond neutral and into restrictive territory may keep US Treasuries (UST) elevated and volatile. We expect the 10-year UST yield to trade in a wide range but should find an anchor once the inflation outlook stabilises. Following the recent rally in the local government bonds in the month of May, we will look to pare some position in government bonds as the long-end of the curve remains volatile and would switch into the belly for better risk-reward opportunities.

We are also looking to the primary market for corporate bonds as liquidity and yields are generally attractive compared to the secondary market. For now, investors need to be prepared for continued volatility as market noises could dominate economic news over a few weeks or couple of months. In our base case, we think inflation will fall but remain above central bank targets, economic growth will slow but stay above zero and markets will ultimately shift focus to economic fundamentals.

These are the investment philosophies we are adopting for the near future:

• Risk Management is key
• Stick to funds that are focused on quality and income-generating feature
• Diversifying to funds that also have an exposure to value and sustainable growth

Munirah Khairuddin, chief executive officer and country head, Principal Malaysia

PMB Investment Berhad is an Islamic Fund Management Company. It offers unit trust and fund management services. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pelaburan MARA Berhad, one of the pioneers in the unit industry in Malaysia with more than five decades of experience.

PMB Investment can be traced back to 24 June 1967 when the then Amanah Saham MARA, now Pelaburan MARA, was established and subsequently launched its first unit trust fund in the following year on 6 April, now known as PMB Dana Al-Aiman.

Isnami Ahmad Mohtar shared with Smart Investor their journey in the industry.

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning fund in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Isnami Ahmad Mohtar: PMB Shariah Premier Fund (PMB SPF) was launched on 14 August 1972 as Kumpulan Modal Bumiputera Pelaboran Perwira for Bumiputera investors only. It was opened for public and re-launched as ASM Premier Fund on 12 June 1995. It was made an Islamic fund and re-launched as ASM Shariah Premier Fund on 15 January 2013 targeting investors who were seeking to invest in a fund investing in large market capitalisation companies.

The fund assumed its current name on 28 April 2014. The objective of the fund is to provide opportunities for investors to achieve capital growth over the medium- to long-term period through investment in the 50 largest Shariah-compliant stocks by market capitalisation listed on the Bursa Malaysia. Strategy-wise, under normal circumstances, allocation to Shariah-compliant equities and Shariah-compliant equity related securities ranges between 70% and 99.5% of the net asset value of the fund.

In terms of performance, for the last five years from 2017 to 2021, on a yearly basis the fund had performed better than its benchmark and its peers, except for 2019. For a 5-year period which ended on 31 December 2021, the fund recorded a total return of 62.46% against its benchmark’s return of 2.07% and its peers’ return of 25.9%.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

IAM: The biggest challenge in the past 12 months was dealing with the volatile stock market which became driven by the news. It was too difficult to pick the right stocks and sectors when the market was highly volatile. Besides, it was difficult to determine the right asset allocation, either to go defensive or fully invested under these market conditions. Then, and even now, the stock market is more in trading mode as market direction changed quite fast due to the flow of the news.

Other issues that affected our stock market was, the economic impact of the Omicron strain, lockdowns, rising inflationary pressures, interest rate hikes, geopolitical tension, supply chain disruptions, the Russian-Ukraine war and high commodities prices had led the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Bank Negara to revise Malaysia’s economic prediction lower.

The other main issues include a mountain of external worries such as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) tapering plan, rising US Treasury yields, the contagion effect from the fallout of China’s Evergrande Group as well as the sanctions against Russia.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

IAM: The markets were already pricing in worries about hot inflation and recession fears. The latest US CPI rose 8.6% year over year (40-year high), well above the 8.3% expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. Interest rates tend to jump up much more in an inflationary environment. This means that equity multiples come down more when inflation is higher.

Besides, investors also worry about the Fed taking a more aggressive rate-hike path to fight inflation. If this happens, we expect analysts will cut forward earnings estimates and stock valuations will be affected. We also opine that the Fed’s aggressive tightening cycles will negatively affect the stock market.

The stock market is also facing other significant headwinds such as global recession fears, the prolonged supply chain disruption, rising business costs, the prolonged Russian and Ukraine war and China’s economic slowdown. However, as Malaysia has transitioned to endemic status, it will have a positive impact on the economy and stock market.

Considering the uncertainty of external factors, prospects for the local stock market in the third quarter 2022 do not look very promising yet, and we continue to be cautious.

Isnami Ahmad Mohtar, chief investment officer, PMB Investment Bhd

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning funds in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Jason Chong Soon Min: Manulife Global Thematic Fund is a feeder fund which invests in a target fund, i.e. Allianz Global Investors Fund – Allianz Thematica. The target fund invests in stocks aligned with identified investable themes. These themes are fluid but typically transcended from long-term structural sifts or megatrends driven by technology, regulations or socioeconomic factors.

Manulife Investment Bond Fund is an actively managed fund that invests in Malaysian Ringgit fixed income securities, predominantly government and corporate bonds. It aims to provide investors consistent returns and stable income distribution.

Manulife Investment U.S. Equity Fund is a feeder fund which invests in a target fund, i.e. Manulife Global Fund – U.S. Equity Fund. The target fund focuses on North America equity investments and invests predominantly in companies with large market capitalisation.

Manulife Global Aqua Fund is a qualified Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) feeder fund which invests in a target fund, i.e. BNP Paribas Funds Aqua. The target fund invests mainly in companies tackling water-related challenges and helping to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable world.

Manulife Global Healthcare Fund is a feeder fund which invests in a target fund, i.e. Manulife Global Fund – Healthcare Fund. The target fund focuses on health care-related companies globally.

Manulife Shariah PRS-Moderate Fund* is on the Private Retirement Scheme platform and aims to help investors accumulate savings through balanced investments in both income and growth strategies over the long term.

Manulife Shariah PRS-Growth Fund* is on the Private Retirement Scheme platform and aims to help investors accumulate savings through investments in both income and growth strategies over the long term. Asset allocation is skewed towards Shariah-compliant equity given its focus on growth.

*Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited has been appointed by Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad as the fund manager for the funds with effect from 14 February 2022 and as such, new asset allocations were deployed according to the new investment policies and strategies.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

JCSM: The past 12 months saw some of the most volatile and eventful financial markets in history. Markets were rocked by an onslaught of unexpected events within a short period of time, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and decades-high inflation.

The unpredictability of such events and the extreme market volatility resulted in an unprecedented opaqueness to market outlook. We had to stay alert and nimble, carefully maneuvering our way around these events amid aggressive tightening of monetary and financial conditions. The key lesson learned is not to have an overly concentrated position in stocks or sectors even if you believe they will experience structural growth over the next few years.

Things can change and unexpected things can happen along the way, be it macroeconomic conditions, a pandemic, or even a war. As a result, the portfolio may underperform when the concentrated positions are impacted by such events. Hence, having a balanced portfolio is important to navigate the current challenging market conditions.

This led us to sticking with the saying that “diversification is the only free lunch in investing”.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

JCSM: Investors should really look out for inflationary pressure and the impact high inflation has on their investments and wealth. The high inflation has triggered a change in global monetary policies and interest rate landscape.

Led by the US Federal Reserve, many central banks tightened monetary policies aggressively. It will be important to take note of how the various asset classes react to a high inflation and high interest rate environment, as well as the potential erosion of investment returns by high inflation.

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning funds in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Lee Sook Yee: The Kenanga Growth Fund Series 2 (KGFS2) and Kenanga Shariah Growth Opportunities Fund (KSGOF) are both equity growth funds that seek to provide investors with long-term capital growth. KGFS2 follows a diversified strategy, where up to 30% of the fund may be invested overseas, with the balance invested in Malaysia. The fund invests across market capitalisations with a focus on growth.

For KSGOF, the fund primarily invests in Shariah-compliant securities with a focus on small-capitalisation segment of the market. Both funds employ a bottom-up stock picking strategy where high conviction stocks are given higher allocation in the portfolio (unless there is liquidity constraint). However, the funds may also tactically scale back equity exposure to stay defensive during periods of higher uncertainties/volatilities.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

LSY: Equity markets globally have been especially challenging in the past 12 months, impacted by continued effects of the pandemic, rising inflation, monetary tightening and geopolitical conflict. COVID concerns still dominated headlines in the second half of last year, as new
variants prompted on and off lockdowns.

Although full re-openings started to progress across the globe in early 2022, the rebound in demand has clashed with supply shortages and triggered a rise in inflation. This was further compounded by the Russia-Ukraine geopolitical conflict. As such, inflation rose to levels which could not be ignored by central banks and as such they have responded with a strong monetary tightening policy.

Rising inflation and tighter policy are negative for asset prices, as liquidity is drained from the system and the cost of capital increases. Inflation also results in rising cost for companies and hurts demand as consumers scale back on discretionary spending. Companies in Malaysia were not spared, given their heavy export links with the rest of the world while rising risk aversion also dampens investment fund flows.

Overall we are managing the environment by currently adopting a defensive portfolio stance, with over-weights on sectors that have pricing power and will also benefit from higher interest rates. We see market weakness as a chance to opportunistically deploy capital to companies where long-term fundamentals still remain solid.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

LSY: Near term, key factors affecting the market will include the path of US growth and inflation, together with the corresponding response by the US FED. On the other hand, China’s market outlook is improving, as the economy re-opens and further government support is being planned to stimulate the economy. Recently, China’s central bank has moved to cut interest rates while the central government is planning to announce more infrastructure stimulus.

Our positive view on ASEAN is maintained, as growth remains strong and is driven by economic re-opening, while higher commodity prices will also benefit certain economies such as Indonesia and Malaysia. In Malaysia, global macro concerns and rising rates have weighed on the market but pockets of opportunities still exist in the manufacturing, tech and consumer sector where fundamentals still remain bright but valuations have become more attractive.

Eastspring Investments, part of Prudential plc won two award categories in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023. With Eastsprings Investment teams’ deep understanding of Asian markets paired with their global expertise, this has proven to be an advantage for them in Asia.

Smart Investor interviews the head of investments, Doreen Choo to find out more about their winning funds.

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning funds in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Doreen Choo: We are genuinely happy. 2021 was a tough year for everyone in the industry and we are ecstatic that two of our funds were accorded awards at the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023. Both funds have consistently won these awards in the past and it speaks about the caliber of our fund management team and the consistent performance of our core funds.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

DC: The challenges we have faced in the past 12 months are mostly due to the fact that market conditions were volatile. While at the same time, due to movement restrictions, we were unable to have face to face meetings with a lot of our investee companies. Online meetings did help to alleviate some of that, but on the ground, site visits are still the best way to get a deeper understanding of the companies we invest in and the prevailing market sentiment.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

DC: We see that investors are diversifying their products into global equity funds and within this global equity space, there is growing interest in ESG or sustainability theme investments. These range from general sustainable funds, and climate-related funds to the latest impact investing funds.

While China markets have been volatile, we do believe that this is an area where investors are watching closely. Given the long-term potential of the market, as well as the current fallback of the market, it has also presented market opportunities for investors who have a longer-term view. The other area of interest will also be tech-related theme investments as how we work, live and play have also been changed by technology and as such, this is also a theme to watch out for.

Amanah Raya Berhad is Malaysia’s premier trustee company wholly owned by the government of Malaysia. AmanahRaya Syariah Trust Fund won the Core Fixed Income Malaysia (Islamic) category. Roszali Ramlee shared their award-winning fund and the current market situation with us.

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning fund in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023

Roszali Ramlee: Thank you, we are extremely honoured to receive such a prestigious award, more so as 2022 has been a tough and difficult year for bond funds. We are grateful that, with discipline, perseverance and our trust in the process, we managed to overcome the challenges that came our way during the said year.

We see this recognition as a great platform to elevate ARIM’s brand and reputation in the investment fraternity. Nevertheless, we do not intend to sit on our laurels, we will continue to strive for greater performance and hopefully more awards.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

RR: The bond yield, which rose sharply during the first half of 2022, had affected the valuation of our fund. We have positioned our portfolio with a short-to-medium portfolio duration to cushion the impact. Nonetheless, the downside risk remains, which includes rising inflation, conflict in Ukraine, prolonged supply chain snarls, China COVID-19 lockdowns, aggressive policy tightening by central banks and the global economic slowdown.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

RR: We anticipate that interest rates will continue to rise in the next 12 months and Bank Negara Malaysia will continue to increase the OPR to 3.00% by 2023 to 2024. As the entry level for 10-year Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) is now above 4.20%, we opined that the current level is attractive and more palatable for traders and investors.

Affin Hwang Asset Management Bhd is an independently-managed, bank-backed asset management firm which started in 2001. The company won nine awards, making it the biggest winner in FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023!

Chan Ai Mei, chief marketing and distribution officer, shared their investment philosophy and strategies with us.

Smart Investor: Congratulations on bagging nine awards at the recent FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023! Tell us about your fund house’s investment philosophy and strategy which contributed to your win.

Chan Ai Mei: Our investment philosophy is underpinned by an absolute return mindset by focusing on quality growth at reasonable prices. This is then overlaid with a macro awareness to determine our risk tolerance. This approach has served us well over the years by knowing when to take some money off the table when the risk- reward considerations justify doing so, as well as deploying more when the risk-reward outcome is in our favour.

We are benchmark-aware investors, but are not constrained by it in our investment process. This has allowed us to raise cash during periods of volatility and focus on capital preservation when the macro environment becomes challenging. Importantly, we also subscribe to the simple belief of managing our client’s money as if it were our own.

We don’t take unnecessary risk with investors’ capital as we are very much invested together with them. The total staff investments within our funds stood in excess of over RM150 million YTD which sums up the belief that we have in our own products.

SI: Affin Hwang AM was a big winner in the Core Equity Category this year. Tell us a little bit about the Select Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) Dividend Fund which won the best Core Equity – Asia ex-Japan fund award. Also, why should investors consider a dividend-focused strategy for their portfolio?

CAM: Select Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) Dividend Fund is an actively-managed equity fund that seeks to provide regular income and capital growth through investments in dividend yielding equities and ‘future dividend leaders’ in Asia.

Through a disciplined investment approach, the Fund adopts a barbell strategy in its stock selection process. The first basket comprises very stable and high dividend-yielding equities that will ensure the consistency of dividend payouts. On the other end, the Fund will invest in companies with strong earnings growth and rising cash flows that have the potential to be future dividend leaders.

One of the important benefits of having a dividend strategy is the measure of stability it adds to one’s portfolio by creating a regular income stream. Through a dividend strategy, investors essentially get ‘paid-to-wait’ as dividends provide a predictable income stream, whilst investors wait for long-term capital appreciation or volatility to subside.

This would help induce investors to stay invested in their portfolios and avoid any drastic shifts in their asset allocation which can be detrimental to their long-term goals.

SI: 2022 has been a volatile year for markets. What advice would you give investors in navigating through this cycle?

CAM: It’s time for investors to go back-to-basics. Markets are going to stay volatile and the past year has shown that timing market conditions isn’t going to work all the time. Instead, practice dollar-cost averaging by continuously investing in fixed sums through regular intervals. This helps lower the purchase price of your investments over time by taking advantage of market dips as well as reducing the risk of bad timing or investing according to one’s emotions.

Investors should also strive to achieve diversification in their portfolios across different asset-classes, strategies, sectors and geographical exposure. Over the long-term, it’s been shown that diversification still remains an investor’s best defence in lowering volatility and achieving better risk-adjusted returns overall.

Against a constant 24-hour news cycle, it pays to also tune-out and avoid monitoring your portfolio constantly. It is counter-productive and usually leads to emotional knee-jerk reactions that puts you in a worse position than before. Instead, set half-year portfolio reviews with your wealth manager or when there is a significant change in your risk capacity, time horizon or objectives. This may warrant a change in your asset allocation because you may be taking too much risk.

A great yardstick is to ask yourself if you can sleep at night comfortably without thinking about your portfolio. If you can’t, then chances are you taking more risk than you can stomach financially. So it’s important to make periodic reviews at least biannually and ensure that your portfolio is geared towards its stated purpose with an asset allocation that matches your risk tolerance.

On the importance of diversification and being cautious in the face of uncertainty

The global market faced a lot of uncertainties over the past few years. Just when we thought the worst was over after COVID-19 cases have subsided, then comes the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has caused energy and other commodity prices to skyrocket. These are just some of the risks associated with the global market, shares Gerald Ambrose, Chief Executive Officer, of abrdn Islamic Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

The fund house changed its name from Aberdeen Standard Islamic Investments (M) Sdn Bhd to abrdn Islamic Malaysia Sdn Bhd in July last year. According to its group website, the new brand symbolises the “transition underway to bring a clarity of focus, renewed sense of purpose and drive for sustainable growth for shareholders, clients and colleagues.”

Read more below on the insights and challenges faced and the market outlook for the near future.

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning fund in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Gerald Ambrose: Firstly, thank you for selecting abrdn Islamic World Equity Fund (AIWEF) as one of FSMOne’s Recommended Unit Trusts for 2022/2023. This is a testament to all the hard work that the team behind the Fund had put in to deliver an investment solution which has been very
well-received by investors in Malaysia. AIWEF is a global equity fund which was incepted on 6 February 2013. It invests in an international portfolio of Shariah-compliant equities and equity-related securities which offer good growth prospects.

The Fund is benchmarked against the MSCI ACWI Islamic (Shariah) Index and seeks to offer investors capital appreciation over the long term. It is well- diversified from a country and sector perspective, providing investors an “all-weather” core portfolio comprising a balance of growth and resilience.

The Fund uses a bottom-up stock selection approach backed by extensive research and analysis from our global equities team and Sustainability Institute to select high-quality companies with qualities such as strong cash flows, healthy balance sheets, sustainable business models and sound corporate governance principles. With a track record of almost 10 years, the Fund’s investors have enjoyed an annualised return of10.3%* p.a. since inception.

* Annualised return is gross of fees. Past performance is not a guide to future results.

SI: What are the challenges that you have faced in the past 12 months?

GA: While the Fund delivered a very strong return of 26.8%* in 2021, market conditions in 2022 have proven significantly more bearish. The global economy continues to face multiple headwinds to asset performance. The challenge has been sentiment and macro factors driving market movements rather than company fundamentals. The rotation of the market towards value stocks has meant stocks with high-quality fundamental characteristics have not been recognised or factored into share prices despite many companies reporting solid operational results.

Instead, concerns over conservative guidance and lower expectations have overshadowed them. Amidst times of market volatility, our focus is on the process of identifying quality businesses that have enduring business models.

This current market has been challenging for short-term performance, however, we have been using this as an opportunity to build positions in high conviction names at lower relative prices. We remain disciplined and committed to the equity process.

*2021 calendar year return is gross of fees. Past performance is not a guide to future results.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

GA: We would remind investors of the importance of diversification and urge caution in the face of uncertainty. Fund managers are worried about
several key tail risks – soaring inflation and monetary policy, a global recession and geopolitical worries. We see parts of the world still navigating lockdown disruptions – for instance, China and its zero-COVID policy. Geopolitical issues, especially Russia-Ukraine and its knock-on inflationary
effects on oil and commodity prices have continued to cause supply chain shortages.

Global inflation is running significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, requiring tighter monetary policy from central banks to tame it, raising concerns over a potential global recession. Our strategy for AIWEF remains consistent with our global equity process of investing for the long-term in quality businesses with reasonable valuations and robust business fundamentals.

The Fund boasts a high conviction portfolio of diversified businesses and a balance of defensive and cyclical elements. We believe that the Fund is well-positioned to take advantage of future growth and it benefits from solid underlying structural drivers.

Be on the lookout for geopolitical uncertainty, rising rates, slowing growth and election uncertainty

Smart Investor: Congratulations! Can you tell us more about your winning fund in the FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2022/2023?

Nor Daliya Mohd Daud: We are honoured to receive this recognition for our AIA PAM Growth Fund. This Fund, which was launched on 16 May 2013, invests in equities with a bias towards equities with potential for growth. The Fund will invest in local and foreign markets as it seeks to provide long-term risk-adjusted returns to its members by integrating rigorous fundamental research with disciplined risk management.

We incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into the investment decision-making process as we believe ESG principles underpin proactive risk management.

Since its inception, the AIA PAM-Growth Fund has recorded a cumulative return of 57.2% as at end March 2022.

SI: What are the challenges you have faced in the past 12 months?

ND: In addition to COVID-related lockdowns within Malaysia and in other major markets which restricted movements and impacted market sentiments over the past year or so, other more recent challenges include Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring commodity prices and supply chain disruptions.

Underperformance in Chinese stocks had also caused equities to decline and bond yields to rise while accelerated monetary policy and quantitative tightening by the US Federal Reserve and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is now a major concern. Notwithstanding the evolving market conditions, we
will remain vigilant and adjust our investment strategies accordingly when the need arises.

Asset allocation decision remains the key driver when determining the range of portfolio outcomes amid volatile markets. We may adopt a temporary defensive strategy during adverse market conditions by increasing exposure to lower risk assets.

SI: What are the market trends that an investor should look out for in the near future?

ND: Geopolitical uncertainty. Market volatility is likely to persist in the near term given no signs of the war ending in the Russia – Ukraine conflict. The longer the war drags on, the longer sanctions will be in place with negative implications on commodity supplies and further increased inflation risks.

Rising rates. Bond yields are rising as the market has been repricing due to the number of rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve that should occur in the foreseeable future. The US Federal Reserve and other central banks are moving to normalize monetary policy to tackle inflation. Domestically, Bank Negara Malaysia’s policy measures should remain accommodative in the near term and the supply of sovereign bonds should be well-absorbed by the market. Overall, the domestic financial system liquidity remains ample, which shall remain supportive of the bond market.

Slowing growth. After a strong economic rebound in 2021, a slowdown in the global economy is expected this year amid less favourable market conditions with rising inflation, China COVID-19 lockdowns and geopolitical concerns.

Election uncertainty. There are news that the 15th Malaysian General Election will be held this year. The uncertainty in the general election outcome could trigger volatility in the market. Investors would want to see decisive policy decisions to combat inflation and a slowing economy.