Published by Asia Asset Management – 12th Oct 2018
Columbia Threadneedle Investments offers Global Extended Alpha Fund to retail investors
US-based asset manager Columbia Threadneedle Investments (Columbia Threadneedle) is offering its Global Extended Alpha Fund to retail investors in Singapore.
The fund, which was previously only available to Asia Pacific institutional investors, focuses on fundamental bottom-up stock selection which picks winners and losers at a stock level and plays on thematic opportunities, the company says in a statement on October 8.
This strategy allows the portfolio management team to focus on individual high conviction ideas while seeking to mitigate overall portfolio risk with short positions in stocks which they expect to underperform, the company says.
According to Neil Robson, head of global equities at Columbia Threadneedle, the global extended alpha strategy allows the fund managers to “express both positive and negative views about companies, and ultimately monetise those views”.
“It is particularly important right now because we have some of the fastest changes in the corporate world that we’ve seen in the last 50 years,” Mr. Robson says in the statement.
“The launch of internet giants and the impact that this is having on businesses around the world is creating as many losers as there are winners. This strategy gives us a chance to profit from the emergence of both the disruptors and the disrupted,” he adds.
The fund is benchmarked against the MSCI AC World Index and the share classes are available in US dollars, Singapore dollars and pound sterling. The fund size as at July 31, 2018 was US$379 million.
Columbia Threadneedle had $482 billion of assets under management as at June 30, 2018.
Singapore’s Phillip Capital Management launches Phillip SING Income ETF
Singapore’s Phillip Capital Management (S) Ltd has expanded its range of exchange-traded fund products with the launch of the Phillip SING Income ETF (SING Inc.), a sub-fund of Phillip Legacy Funds.
The fund seeks to replicate and track the Morningstar Singapore Yield Focus, Phillip Capital Management says in a statement on October 1.
It says the ETF enables investors to gain exposure to stocks with sustainable and growing dividends, while aiming to avoid high-dividend stocks that may potentially suffer from dividend cuts or share price declines.
“The Phillip SING Income ETF is unique as the constituent securities of the initial portfolio of the index offers dividend yield in excess of 4% per annum, a significant yield advantage to long-term Singapore government bonds,” Jeffrey Lee, managing director and chief investment officer of Phillip Capital Management, says in the statement.
The ETF is being offered at S$1 (US$0.72) per unit during the initial offer period from October 1-19. The minimum subscription amount is 50,000 units. The ETF will commence trading on the Singapore Exchange on Oct 29.
Phillip Capital Management had approximately S$1.6 billion of assets under management at end-August 2018.
Malaysia’s Affin Hwang Asset Management unveils income focus fund for retail investors
Malaysia’s Affin Hwang Asset Management (Affin Hwang AM) launched the retail tranche of its Affin Hwang Income Focus Fund Series on October 8.
The Affin Hwang Income Fund 4 is the fourth tranche of the series. The target of the three-year closed-end fixed income fund is to provide income return while maintaining capital preservation.
At least 85% of its net asset value will be invested in defensive assets, including money market instruments or deposits, and up to 15% in options or structured warrants.
Chan Ai Mei, chief marketing and distribution officer of Affin Hwang AM, says she sees “increasing demand for global investment solutions from investors keen to diversify their portfolios and reduce risk in this current market environment”.
“This strong demand spurred our decision to launch the retail trance of the series, so that anyone is able to gain exposure through a dedicated fund-linked structure by capping downside risk and potentially enhanced returns,” she says in a statement on October 8.
According to Ms. Chan, the fund is for retail investors who seek capital preservation, have a low risk tolerance, and a short-term investment horizon.
The offer price for the fund is 1 ringgit (US$0.24) per unit during the initial offer period, which ends on November 15. The minimum initial investment amount is 1,000 ringgit.
Affin Hwang AM had total assets under administration – comprising in-house unit trust funds as well as corporate and discretionary portfolios – of about 49.36 billion ringgit as at August 31, 2018.
UOB Asset Management (Malaysia) launches emerging-markets fund
UOB Asset Management (Malaysia), a subsidiary of Singapore-based UOB Asset Management (UOBAM), has launched a new fund that seeks to tap opportunities in emerging markets.
The United Global Emerging Markets Opportunity Fund aims to help investors gain exposure to outstanding companies that will benefit from macroeconomic trends across emerging markets, such as rising wealth driven by a relatively younger and larger workforce, the company says in a statement on September 20.
It will focus on the consumer discretionary, banking, telecommunications and technology sectors, which are expected to gain from rising wealth and growing consumer demand across global emerging markets.
The company says the fund’s objective is to provide investors with long-term capital appreciation by investing a minimum 90% of its net asset value in the UBS (Lux) Equity SICAV – Global Emerging Markets Opportunity Fund.
UOB Asset Management (Malaysia) had 8.23 billion ringgit (US$1.98 billion) of assets under management (AUM) as at July 31, 2018. Its parent company UOBAM had AUM of S$17.1 billion (US$12.37 billion) as at end-June 2018.
