MAYBANK ASSET MANAGEMENT LAUNCHES GOLD FUND 

Press Release

MAYBANK ASSET MANAGEMENT LAUNCHES GOLD FUND 

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 JUNE 2020 – Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd (“MAM Malaysia”) launched MAMG Gold Fund (“the Fund”) today. The Fund is a wholesale feeder fund which aims to maximise investment returns by investing in the Pictet CH Precious Metals Fund – Physical Gold (“Target Fund”), a Switzerland-domiciled fund of Pictet Asset Management SA.

The Target Fund’s investment objective is to offer investors’ exposure to movement in physical gold prices as the fund tracks the daily movement in gold prices daily. It was launched on 30 September 2009 and it primarily invests almost 100% of its assets in physical gold.

To meet its investment objective, the Fund will invest a minimum of 90% of the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) in the Target Fund and a maximum of 10% of the Fund’s NAV will be invested in liquid assets.

The Fund provides the following key benefits to investors:

First, it offers the potential returns from the investment into gold, with very low tracking error.

Second, the Fund tracks closely to the daily movement in of Gold price based on the London Fixing, 3 p.m. GMT.

Gold is also a very liquid investment as it can be traded easily. It can also protect against depreciation in flat currencies, which may be a risk going forward with the massive quantitative easing that many central banks are undertaking in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a recessionary economy.

Third, the Fund is 100% invested into physical gold, not paper gold or derivatives and does not have counterparty nor credit risks associated with paper or synthetic gold investments which may affect the performance of the Fund.

And last but not least, the Fund is less correlated to key asset classes such as bonds and equities, thus enhancing the risk-return profile of investors.

The Fund is suitable for sophisticated investors* and offers these investors an opportunity to invest indirectly in physical gold and have a long-term investment horizon.

Gold within the current market outlook:

Ahmad Najib Nazlan, Chief Executive Officer of MAM Malaysia, said, “Increasingly we see demand for gold as it is a good hedge against market uncertainties.

Safe haven investment demand created by the pandemic conditions as well as low interest rates and rising money supply is still conducive for gold purchase. Geopolitical issues, a weaker dollar, renewed trade tensions and the upcoming U.S. Presidential election may support the demand for it too.

Central banks which proved major support to prices in recent years have slowed gold purchases with the reach of an optimal share of reserves (e.g. Russia), hence, further diversification away from the largest developed currencies and with bond yields at a near record low may lend further support to gold.

Thus, in a low and near zero interest environments, gold is becoming more and more attractive as an alternative investment because it has no yield, making it a necessary component to an investment portfolio.”

Our MAMG Gold Fund will be able to offer investors diversification in their investment portfolios. In these uncertain times, it is important to understand and provide investors with more options and strategies to suit their evolving investment needs.”

Strategic distribution partnership with Citibank Berhad

MAM Malaysia and Citibank Berhad (“Citi”) entered into a strategic distribution partnership since January this year. The partnership allows MAM Malaysia Funds to be offered to Citi clients and the new MAMG Gold Fund is available exclusively for Citi clients.

When commenting on the partnership, Najib said, “With Citi’s wide distribution coverage combined with Maybank Asset Management Group’s investment expertise and experience spanning more than 30 years, we are very excited to offer Citi’s high net worth investors our investment solutions and services. We also have plans to introduce other new innovative investment solutions such as an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) fund to our current offerings.”

Citi Malaysia Head of Wealth Management Product Jeremy Ho said, “We look forward to a synergistic partnership with MAM Malaysia, one that aligns well with Citi’s wealth management priorities to support our customers in expanding their portfolios through fund diversification. The partnership is timely in the midst of market volatility and challenges of global growth, where long-term strategic and sustainable investing is pivotal to cushion against these challenges.”

As part of the strategic distribution partnership, Citi is also distributing MAMG Dynamic High-Income Fund (which is Wholesale Fund that suitable for Sophisticated Investor), one of MAM Malaysia’s leading funds. The fund invests in the BlackRock Global Funds Dynamic High Income Fund and aims to deliver an income of 5% - 7% p.a. in the United States Dollar term.

-Ends-

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 25.3 billion as at 30 April 2020.

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi |Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com |Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi.


*Note: A sophisticated investor is a high-net-worth investor who is considered to have a depth of experience and market knowledge that makes them eligible for certain benefits and opportunities.


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