Maybank AM's Q-Opportunities Bolstered by Resilient Domestic Spending and Consumption

Maybank AM Q-Opportunities announces inaugural income distribution of 15 sen per unit

Kuala Lumpur, 4 June 2013– Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Mayban Investment Management Sdn Bhd) ("Maybank AM") today declared its inaugural income distribution of 15 sen per unit for its flagship local equity fund, the Maybank Q-Opportunities Fund ("Q-OPP"). In tandem with strong local economic data post-election pointing towards the Malaysian economy staying on track at a 5.0 to 5.5 per cent gross domestic product ("GDP") growth for 2013, Maybank AM is confident that Q-OPP will continue to perform consistently on a positive trend.

Income distribution will be made on 5th June 2013 and will be reinvested or paid via cheque or credited into unit holder's bank accounts as per their indicated preference. As at 30 April 2013, the fund which offers investors capital growth over the long-term, has registered a cumulative return of 14.6 per cent since its inception in July 2011, outperforming its benchmark of the FBM Top 100 by 4.9 per cent. While the fund is a capital growth fund by nature, due to Q-OPP's encouraging performance, Maybank AM has made an income distribution to investors who have stayed invested in the fund. Furthermore, an income distribution at this point in the market cycle creates an opportunity for existing investors to reinvest at a lower net asset value ("NAV") while interested parties can now invest in the fund and ride the post-election market rally.

Q-OPP is a wholesale equity fund that aims to achieve capital appreciation over the long-term by investing in Malaysian equities. The fund is part of Maybank AM's Q-Series of Funds, focused on local investments aimed at providing investors with an "all-weather" investment solution. It is suitable for investors with a long term investment horizon and a higher risk tolerance.

"For this fund, an active management strategy is being employed whereby both top down and bottom up approaches are interchangeably used as we see fit to market conditions. The fund's strategy, for a majority of the duration, has been on a thematic approach and buying into sectors with strong growth stories such as oil and gas, construction, property and banks which we believe will continue to perform well on the back of support from Government-backed initiatives such as the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The fund's strong performance to date is a testament to the results of this solid active management and absolute return strategy of always providing investors with above benchmark returns over a medium term," said Nor' Azamin Salleh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maybank AM.

"We will maintain our strategy post-election as we are confident that the fund will continue to do well owing to Malaysia's resilient domestic growth, underpinned by strong government infrastructure spending, private consumption and inflow of foreign direct investments. Concurrently, as a safeguard against market volatility, we will continue to be selective in positioning from a timing as well as weighting perspective," added Azamin.

Azamin comments further on Malaysia's economy, "Despite GDP growth of only 4.1 per cent in 1Q13 due to lower exports and investor uncertainty over the elections, the gradual pick up of the global economy and resilient domestic demand will continue to boost the country's growth. In comparison, Thailand and Indonesia have started to experience a slowing in the pace of growth for 1Q13, at 5.3 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively, amidst rising currencies that have investors looking elsewhere for better returns. We expect to see more investors turning to Malaysia, having remained the laggard and underperformer for the past few months, as the country's solid fundamentals make it an ideal investment destination."

For more information on Q-OPP, interested investors are advised to contact Maybank AM Malaysia's client servicing team at 03 – 2297 7888 or enquiries@maybank-am.com.