What is unit trust?
Unit Trust is a collective investment scheme
that pools the savings of a large number of investors. The money collected is invested by
the fund manager in different types of stocks, bonds, or other securities in
various proportions depending upon the objective of the fund.
The
income earned through these investments and the capital appreciation realized
by the scheme, after deducting the trading costs and expenses of managing and
administering the fund are paid out to the unit holders in proportion to the
number of units owned by them.
Most
of the unit trust funds in Malaysia are open-ended funds (the fund sells as
many units as you and other investors want to buy and buys as many units you
want to sell). This makes unit trust funds very liquid investments – though
the price at which you sell may be less than your purchase price if the value
of the fund has dropped.
You
can make an initial investment with as little as RM1,000 and buy additional
units when you have more money or invest a fixed amount on a regular monthly
schedule via a bank account. Thus unit trust is the most suitable investment
for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified,
professionally managed portfolio.Each
Fund has a defined investment objective and strategy.
General appeal
Diversification of risk
When you invest in unit trust, your money is pooled with
those from other investors to create a huge pool of money. This enables your
money to be spread across different securities (stocks, bonds, money market
instruments) and different sectors (services, plantation, mining, finance,
technology etc.). This kind of a diversification adds to the stability of your
returns, for example during one period of time equities might underperform but
bonds and money market instruments might do well enough to offset the effect of
a slump in the equity markets. This “spreading” over many stocks and shares
dilutes the risk faced by an individual investor.
Limits of diversification
Limits of diversification
Funds tend to focus on the segment
of the market that fits its’ investment objectives. A fund whose objective is
long-term growth in large-company stocks will suffer in a period when
large-company growth is depressed. While funds have some freedom to make other
types of investments to improve their returns, they may be limited from
straying too far from what their objective implies.
Professional management.
Employing Experts.
When you buy in to a mutual fund, you are handing your money
to an investment professionals who has experience in making investment
decisions. It is the Fund Manager's job to:
- find the best securities for the fund, given the fund's stated investment objectives; and
- keep track of investments and changes in market conditions and adjust the mix of the portfolio, as and when required.
The collective schemes enables
affordability to engage the services of a team of trained and experienced
people in the stock market arena to make the right stock selection choices for
the inexperienced and untrained individuals.
However, even investment
professionals can make wrong choices or wrong timings which will affect the
performance of a fund.
Wide choice of funds.
Choices, choices,
choices.
There are so many types of
trust funds each with its own objective that there is always a fund that is
suitable to every investor.
You may choose mutual funds
with specific investment objectives to round out your portfolio. Or you may
choose a number of mutual funds with different objectives to create a
diversified portfolio.
Many investors use global
trust funds to invest in world-wide markets both as a hedge against market
downturns at home and as a way to take advantage of strong economies abroad. To achieve its investment
objective — whether it is long-term growth or capital appreciation or anything
in between — the fund’s manager invests in securities he or she believes will
provide the results the fund seeks.
To identify those
securities, a fund’s research staff often does a detailed analysis of the
individual companies issuing the securities.
When the objective is
small-company growth or the focus is on emerging markets, the process can be
more difficult because there's limited information available on small company
stocks and also these stocks are less liquid.
Different categories of funds .
Unit trust funds are also known as mutual funds. These funds
fall into 5 primary categories:
- Equity funds, also called growth funds. They invests primarily in stocks up to 95%. Meant for aggressive-risk investors. Has higher volatility and risk-return rewards.
- Income fund, also called bond funds. They invest primarily in corporate or government bonds and debentures up to 90%. Meant for conservative-risk investors. Low volatility. However, if the bonds are forfeited due to non-performance, the fund will also experience loss.
- Balance funds invests in BOTH stocks and bonds usually in the ratio of 60% :40%. This type of fund is suitable for moderate-risk investors. Medium volatility is due to lesser exposure to stocks.
- Money market funds. They make short-term investments (usually of less than 365 days) and meant for temporary "parking" the liquid funds whilst waiting for opportunities to invest or to sit out a volatile market.
- Capital Guaranteed funds are funds that invests primarily in bonds and have a little exposure in stocks in the approximate ratio of 85% : 15%. These funds are usually open to subscription for a limited period of 30 days only. Investors are expected to lock in their investments for a minimum of 3 years to enjoy the capital guarantee feature.
All transactions for the day are
executed based on the NAV. The Managers will SELL the units to you based on the
NAV plus a Service Charge of between 3% - 10%. They will BUY your units back
from you at the NAV price.
Affordable
Small capital start-up.
A mutual fund invests in a portfolio of
assets, i.e. bonds, shares, etc. depending upon the investment objective of the
scheme. Each investor (unitholder) thus gets an exposure to such portfolios
with an initial investment as little as RM500/-. Thus it is affordable for an
investor to build a portfolio of investments through a mutual fund rather than
investing directly in the stock market.
By investing regularly through a bank debit program, an investor can build on the initial investment and accumulate his/her investment steadily. The more you have invested, the greater your potential for future growth. The fund managers credits the units each time they receive your investment and also rolls over distributions into new units into your account.
By investing regularly through a bank debit program, an investor can build on the initial investment and accumulate his/her investment steadily. The more you have invested, the greater your potential for future growth. The fund managers credits the units each time they receive your investment and also rolls over distributions into new units into your account.
Dollar cost averaging
When you invest on a regular basis, you’re using a strategy called dollar cost averaging. By adding a similar amount of money on a regular basis you can reduce your cost per share in the fund below the actual average cost of a share over the period you invest.
There’s no guarantee you’ll
make money with dollar cost averaging. If the fund price declines and doesn’t
bounce back eventually, you could lose some of your investment. But in general,
dollar cost averaging can reduce the risk that you’ll invest all of your assets
at the market peak.
Equity / Growth funds
For the more aggressive investor.
The objective of equity funds, also called growth funds is
to provide capital appreciation over the medium to long term. In our local
(Malaysian) context, funds of this category generally invest up to 90% - 95% of
its Net Asset Value into stocks and shares of companies listed or unlisted in
the KL Stock Exchange or otherwise known as Bursa Malaysia. There are currently
more than 900 stocks listed in Bursa Malaysia.
This category of funds will usually have at least 5% in cash or cash-related assets to meet redemption requirements. (Redemption means cashing-out by an investor). Growth schemes are ideal for investors who have a long term outlook of the market and am seeking growth over a period of time.
This category of funds will usually have at least 5% in cash or cash-related assets to meet redemption requirements. (Redemption means cashing-out by an investor). Growth schemes are ideal for investors who have a long term outlook of the market and am seeking growth over a period of time.
In Malaysia, Growth Funds has
further developed into:
i. Blue-Chip Growth Funds,
ii. Small-Cap Growth Funds,
iii. Sector Growth Funds,
iv. Index-linked Growth Funds.
v. Global Growth Funds.
i. Blue-Chip Growth Funds,
ii. Small-Cap Growth Funds,
iii. Sector Growth Funds,
iv. Index-linked Growth Funds.
v. Global Growth Funds.
Growth Funds are suitable for the Aggressive Risk Investor
who is willing to take extra risk in order to have a potentially higher capital
gains reward. This type of fund can be very volatile due to the high exposure
of its' assets in stocks and shares trading.
Balance funds
For the moderately aggressive investor.
The objective of balance funds (also called mixed asset funds)
is to provide both growth and regular income to the investor. Such schemes
periodically distribute a part of their earning as income to the unit holder.
They generally invest up to 60% of its Net Asset Value into
stocks and shares of companies listed or unlisted in Bursa Malaysia. With the
rest of the NAV going into cash deposits or fixed-interest securities like
bonds, government securities etc. The risk exposure is therefore reduced in the
event of adverse share-market correction since only up to 60% of the NAV is
exposed to stocks and shares.
In a rising stock market, the NAV of
these schemes may not normally keep pace with the rise. Likewise, when
the market falls it will also not fall at the same pace. Balance funds are
suitable for investors looking for a combination of income and moderate growth
over the medium to long term (i.e. 3 to 5 years and more).
In Malaysia, Balance Funds
can be further sub-divided into:
- Balance Growth Funds,
- Balance Income Funds.
- Balance Global Funds.
- Balance – Emerging Markets.
- Balance – Syariah.
This simply means that the choice of
stocks and shares are of growth-biased companies or of income-biased companies.
The former giving a greater potential of capital appreciation.
Balance funds are appropriate for
the Moderate Risk Investor who is willing to forgo the higher potential capital
gains reward in order to have lesser volatility in his/her investments.
Income / bond funds
For the conservative investor.
The objective of income funds is to provide regular and
steady income to investors.
Such schemes generally invest in fixed income securities
such as bonds, corporate debentures and Government securities. Income Funds are
ideal for capital stability and regular income.
Some risk to such funds are when the bond issuer defaults.
Capital guaranteed funds
For the conservative investor.
This type of funds usually requires you to invest for a
period of 3 or 5 years. At the end of the period, your capital is guaranteed.
Capital guaranteed fund is a hybrid
fund consisting of bonds which will “grow” to 100% of your capital upon
maturity and a small portion in equities to give the fund the “profit”. Unless
the bonds issuer defaults, the capital is sure to be preserved.
Money market funds
Parking money while
waiting for the right opportunity
The aim of money market funds is to provide
easy liquidity, preservation of capital and moderate income to the conservative
investor.
It is also ideal for corporate and individual
investors as a means to park their surplus funds for short periods of even 1
day, whilst waiting for the right opportunity. There is no service charge nor
redemption costs.
These funds generally invest in short-term
instruments (less than 365 days) such as treasury bills, certificates of
deposits, commercial papers and inter-bank call money. Returns on these funds
fluctuate depending upon the interest rates prevailing in the market.
Profiting from unit trust
How do you measure profit?
A unit trust fund will make money
from two aspects:
- by earning dividends (from stocks) or interest (from cash/bonds) and
- by selling investments (stocks) that have increased in price and bond maturities.
The fund may distribute or pay out
its profits to you and its other investors according to the fund’s declared
distribution policy. Some funds’ policy is to pay out earnings yearly, some
will pay out half-yearly. Some funds specify that it does not intend to pay out
the profits but let the gains accumulate in the NAV.
Payouts when done, is usually
carried out in two ways:
- by way of income distributions. When an income distribution is made you will receive money from the fund. However, you could elect for this money distributed to be reinvested for more units. Following an income distribution, the NAV of the fund decreases.
- by way of unit splits. The investors’ total number of units in the fund increases but the total NAV remains the same.
As a unit trust investor, you have
made profits IF your REDEMPTION value i.e. total number of units X NAV is
higher than the amount of your Initial Investment.
Net asset value (NAV)
What's a unit worth?
A fund’s net asset value
(NAV) is what the fund is actually worth. It is measured by dividing the total
value of the fund’s by the total number of units in circulation.
NAV = Total Value
of Fund
Total Number of Units in Circulation.
Total Number of Units in Circulation.
A fund's NAV increases when
the value of its holdings increases. For example, if its investments are worth
$100 million today, but were worth $95 million a year ago, its NAV will be
higher if the number of units has remained constant.
Measuring profits
Are you making profits?
The most accurate measure of a
mutual fund's performance is its gross profit or loss. It is the total
redemption value minus the capital invested. It's typically reported as
percentage return and is derived by dividing the gross profit by the amount of
your initial investment.
How can you know whether you have
profitted or not? It's simple. This is how you calculate.
For example: You invested RM12,000
into fund ATC at a unit price of RM0.50 a year ago. This purchase will result
in your having 24,000 units of the fund. If the manager's current buy price is
RM0.52, your current value will be: 24,000 units
x RM0.52 buy price per
unit = RM12,480. This means your gross profit is RM480.00.
Your gross profit is then: RM480 /
RM12,000 = 4%.
If your investment was made 2 years
ago and the gross profit is the same i.e. 4%, then your annualized profit is
approximately: 4% / 2 years = 2% per annum.
Gross profit % and Annualized profit
(ROI% p.a.)
Gross profit is profits without
consideration of the duration of investment.
Annualized profit: When the
investment duration is for periods longer than a year, the annualized profit is
measured by dividing the gross profit with the number of years invested (as in
the example above).
Among the key factors that influence
gross profit are:
- the direction of the overall market or markets in which the fund is invested,
- the performance of the fund's portfolio of investments, and
- the fund's fees and expenses.
·
Costs of Investing.
·
Front Load Service
Fee.
This is a front-end fee that Unitholders have to pay. The fees normally range between 5%-10%. This charge is also known as the “spread” between the Sell Price and the Buy Price. The bulk of this fee is the agents' commission.
This is a front-end fee that Unitholders have to pay. The fees normally range between 5%-10%. This charge is also known as the “spread” between the Sell Price and the Buy Price. The bulk of this fee is the agents' commission.
·
For example, if the spread is a 5%
service charge, it means that if you applied to invest RM100,000 into a fund,
RM5000 will be deducted as service charge and the balance of RM95,000 will be
invested. The RM95,000 is known as the Net Asset Value (NAV).
·
Management fee.
This fee normally ranges from 1% - 1.5% per annum of the NAV of the Fund and is used to cover the costs of managing your investment. It is used to pay for Administrative costs as well as to pay the Investment Managers. This cost is calculated and accrued daily from the NAV of the Fund and payable monthly to the Fund Manager irregardless of the performance of the Manager.
This fee normally ranges from 1% - 1.5% per annum of the NAV of the Fund and is used to cover the costs of managing your investment. It is used to pay for Administrative costs as well as to pay the Investment Managers. This cost is calculated and accrued daily from the NAV of the Fund and payable monthly to the Fund Manager irregardless of the performance of the Manager.
·
Trustee fee.
·
This fee normally ranges about 0.07%
per annum of the NAV of the Fund with a minimum charge of RM18,000 per annum.
This fee is used to pay the Trustee for their services, which is primarily to
keep watch that the fund is being managed according to the guidelines set out
in the Trust Deed. This cost is also calculated daily and is deducted from the
NAV of the Fund.
·
Fund expenses.
·
This includes audit fee, tax fee and
administration expenses like printing of prospectuses, interim and annual
reports, distribution cheques, postage, printing and other services properly
incurred in the administration of the fund. These costs are paid out of the
fund’s assets.
Redemption & Switch fees
Redemption charges.
Most front-end load funds do not carry a redemption charge. However some funds like Capital Guaranteed funds do impose redemption charges of 1%-2% if the redemptions are done before the maturity date in order to discourage premature redemptions.
Most front-end load funds do not carry a redemption charge. However some funds like Capital Guaranteed funds do impose redemption charges of 1%-2% if the redemptions are done before the maturity date in order to discourage premature redemptions.
Other funds that do not have a front-end load
may have redemption charges that works on a reducing basis. Example, if
redemption is done during the 1st year, you pay 3% of the NAV. If redemption is
done during the second year, you pay 2%, if done on the 3rd year, you
pay 1%, if done after 3 years, you do not pay any fees.
Switching fees.
In addition to the above fees, there are also secondary fees like fund switching fee, transfer fees etc. Fund switching is a term used to describe an investor who redeems or sells-off a fund and using the proceeds to invest in another fund which is managed by the same Fund Manager.
In addition to the above fees, there are also secondary fees like fund switching fee, transfer fees etc. Fund switching is a term used to describe an investor who redeems or sells-off a fund and using the proceeds to invest in another fund which is managed by the same Fund Manager.
Some funds do not impose any fees for the
first 2 switches in a calendar year, whilst other allow only 1 free switch. Yet
there are also funds that do not allow free switching and there is a charge on
every time a switch is made. Such fees are usually mentioned in the fund's
prospectus.
Potential risks.
Caveat Emptor: There is no sure profit in unit trust investing or any other investing.
There are risks involved and by being aware we can begin to
find ways to manage these risks rather than avoid them. Some of these risks
are:-
- Market risk. Unit trust managers buys stocks and shares. The prices of stocks can fluctuate in response to the activities of individual companies, and general market or economic conditions. Such fluctuations in the values of stocks and shares will cause the Net Asset Value of the Fund to fall as well as rise. You stand to lose money when the share market falls.
- Interest rate risk. Generally, bond (fund) prices move in the opposite direction of interest rates. If interest rate rises, bond prices falls. This will lower the value of your investment.
- Credit risk. A fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a fixed income securities is unable or unwilling to make timely principal and/or interest payments.
- Investment manager risk. Poor investment management will result in the loss of capital invested. Changes in a fund’s management may also affect whether a fund achieves its objective. The fund management company may replace a fund manager or the fund manager may resign. This change may be significant since the manager controls the fund’s investments.For example, an equity fund that has realized modest gains under one manager may become more volatile if the fund’s new manager seeks more robust growth.
- Country risk. The prices of securities are also affected by the political and economic conditions of the country. With the recent popularity of global funds, investors should take note that global funds may be affected by risks specific to the country which it invests. Such risks include changes in a country’s economic fundamentals, social and political stability and foreign investment policies etc. These may have an adverse impact on the prices of securities of listed companies.
- Currency risk or foreign exchange risk.This is a risk associated with investments denominated in foreign currencies. When the foreign currencies fluctuate in an unfavorable movement against Ringgit Malaysia, the investments will face currency losses.
- Syariah non-compliance risk. The Syariah-approved securities invested by the fund may be reclassified by the Syariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission as syariah non-approved securities. The fund's performance may be affected as the fund has then to dispose all such investments that have been reclassified.
Research & Evaluation
Get the facts before you act.
When you’re evaluating a unit trust
fund because you’re thinking of buying or you’re evaluating whether to continue
to hold it in your portfolio, there are some big-picture issues for you to
consider.
- is the fund’s investment objective in line with your objective?
- will the fund help to diversify your investment portfolio.
- how does the fund compare with other funds of the same category and objective?
Fund Prospectus:
The Securities Commission (SC)
requires all unit trust funds to provide a prospectus to all potential
investors. Investors are advised to read and understand the contents of the
prospectus.
The Prospectus must explain and give
information on the fund including:
- the fund objective,
- the investment strategy to follow to achieve its' objective,
- fees and charges of the fund,
- income distribution policy,
- switching policy and redemption charges,
- investment risks involved,
- how to buy, sell or switch units of the fund,
- the fund manager and its financial performance,
- the trustee, its' roles and responsibilities.
While a prospectus provides all the
details of a fund, it also tries to portray the fund in the best possible
terms. Smart investors will also use other resources to research the fund and
the managers' past performance records before they making an informed decision.
Switching funds
Switching refers to the act of moving your investment in one
fund to another fund/funds which are managed by
the same fund management company.
There is usually no cost involved in
switching from a "loaded fund" to another fund. (most fund managers
allow a few free switches in a calender year). However there is a cost involved
if you initially invested in a "no-load" fund or "low-load"
fund and now want to switch into a "loaded" fund. "Loaded
fund" means a fund with an upfront sales charge (from 5% - 10%) attached.
Most growth and balanced funds are loaded funds. Note: One way of knowing
whether there is a load on the fund or not is to look at the Buy and Sell
price. If there is a difference, then it is a loaded fund.
Switching is done when there is a change in your outlook of the economic situation and you desire to preserve the profits you have gained or to reduce further losses. Example: If you believe that the stock market has appreciated a lot and that further stock market upside is limited, you will then switch your Equity funds to a Money Market fund.
Switching is done when there is a change in your outlook of the economic situation and you desire to preserve the profits you have gained or to reduce further losses. Example: If you believe that the stock market has appreciated a lot and that further stock market upside is limited, you will then switch your Equity funds to a Money Market fund.
Alternatively, if you feel that the market
has bottomed out and further downside correction is limited, you will then
switch your Money market fund back into an Equity fund in order to benefit from
the market appreciation again.
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