Maybank Asset Management Debut its Multi Award Winning Singapore Domiciled Flagship Asian USD Bond Fund in Malaysia 

Press Release

Maybank Asset Management Debut its Multi Award Winning Singapore Domiciled Flagship Asian USD Bond Fund in Malaysia 

KUALA LUMPUR, 13 JULY 2020 – Buoyed by its success in Singapore, Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd (“MAM Malaysia”) has rolled out the flagship Asian USD bond fund in Malaysia via a fixed income feeder fund called the Maybank Asian Credit Income Fund (“The Fund”).

The Fund aims to maximise investment returns by investing in the Maybank Asian Income Fund (“Target Fund”).

In seeking to achieve its investment objective, the Fund invests a minimum of 90% of the Fund’s NAV in Class A - SGD of the Target Fund and up to 10% of the Fund’s NAV will be invested in liquid assets*. The Target Fund is a Singapore-authorised open-ended unit trust constituted in Singapore and is a sub-fund of Maybank Focus Funds.

The Fund will use derivatives such as currency forwards for hedging purposes to manage the currency risk of the Fund’s investments.

For investors who are looking for a continuous income stream, this Fund aims to distribute income on a bi-monthly basis, i.e. every two months**, targeting 4.00% - 4.50% per annum in MYR.

The Fund is designed for investors who seek an income stream; are comfortable with the volatility and risks of a fixed income portfolio which invests primarily in Asian fixed income securities and United States government debt; and have a medium to long term investment horizon.

The Target Fund recently won the Lipper Fund Awards 2020 for the Best Bond Global (USD) Fund in the 3-year and 5-year categories with annualised returns of 7.20% p.a. and 6.00% p.a. as at 31 December 2020 respectively. Citywire Asia Awards 2020 also awarded the Target Fund’s fixed income team for the Singapore Best Fund Manager and the Singapore Best Fund Groups in Singapore Bonds for Asia Pacific Hard Currency Category. 

Ahmad Najib Nazlan, CEO of Maybank Asset Management said, “We believe that the Fund will provide investors consistent and frequent income pay-out despite the current volatile market and low interest rate environment. Investors may also potentially reap the benefits of Asian bonds with higher yields as compared to developed markets as Asia is still the fastest growing region with increasing spending power and it continues to deliver strong economic growth compared to the rest of the world.”

As at 31 May 2020, the Target Fund has achieved 4.78% per annum in USD since its inception.

The Target Fund was established on 24 November 2014 and is managed by Maybank Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. (“MAM Singapore”), a fully owned subsidiary of Maybank Asset Management Group Berhad, licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. MAM Singapore has managed collective investment schemes or discretionary funds since April 2009.

The Target Fund’s investment objective is to provide investors with capital growth and income primarily through investing in a portfolio of Asian fixed income securities and U.S. government debt.

To achieve the investment objective, the Target Fund will invest primarily in a portfolio of debt securities. The bulk of the Target Fund’s returns are expected to be generated from the underlying market risk while the expected incremental returns are expected to be generated from various actively managed fixed income investment activities, which encompass but are not limited to security selection, duration risk and yield curve management.

The Target Fund will invest primarily in, but not limited to, Asian debt securities including money market instruments denominated in both local currencies as well as in USD. The Target Fund may employ currency hedging strategies to partially hedge the foreign currency exposure to manage currency risk. Furthermore, the Target Fund may also employ interest rate futures to fully or partially hedge the interest rate risk inherent in the fixed income exposure and will be actively managed.

Investors can purchase units in the Fund at a minimum initial investment of RM1,000 or SGD1,000 and make additional investments at a minimum amount of RM100 or SGD100 respectively at any Maybank branches nationwide.

Investors are advised to read and understand the contents of the Fund’s Product Highlights Sheet and Prospectus dated 7 July 2020 before investing. Visit www.maybank-am.com.my for more information on the Fund.

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About Maybank Asset Management Sdn. Bhd.

Maybank Asset Management Sdn. Bhd. is a subsidiary of Maybank Asset Management Group Berhad (“MAMG”) and is owned by Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (“PNB”) as its asset management arm.

MAMG is one of the pioneers in the local asset management industry with a highly capable fund management team, averaging over 20 years of investment experience and expertise in Asian markets. It has presence across three (3) ASEAN key markets namely, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia offering Asian based investment solutions encompassing both conventional and Islamic assets. The portfolio management services cater to all types of investors including corporate and institutions, high net-worth individuals and mass retail.

MAMG has a strong foothold in ASEAN with strategic intent to enhance its investment capabilities with on-the-ground market intelligence and expertise as well as expanding its regional distribution capabilities to market products cross-border. MAMG’s AUM stands at MYR 27.7 billion as at 30 June 2020.

The Fund is not a capital guaranteed fund or a capital protected fund as defined under the ‘Guidelines On Unit Trust Funds’ issued by the Securities Commission Malaysia. Investors are advised to read and understand the contents of the Prospectus. The prospectus for Maybank Asian Credit Income Fund dated 7 July 2020 and its supplementaries if any (“Prospectus”) has been registered/deposited with the Securities Commission Malaysia ("SC"), who takes no responsibility for its contents. If in doubt, please consult a professional adviser. For information concerning certain risk factors which should be considered by prospective investors, see “Risk Factors” commencing on page 6 of the Prospectus.