General Requirement to Open an Account
Unit Trusts or more commonly known in the United States as mutual funds, are a form of collective investment that allows investors with similar investment objectives to pool their funds to be invested in a portfolio of assets.
These portfolio may include asset classes such as:
Investors or unitholders do not actually purchase the securities in the portfolio directly, rather the ownership of the fund is divided into units of entitlement. As the value of the fund increase or decrease, the corresponding value of each unit increases or decreases accordingly. The number of units held depends on the amount of money invested as well as the unit price at the time of investment.
The return on investment in unit trust, if any, is usually in the form of income distribution and capital appreciation, derived from the underlying investment of the unit trust fund. Each unit earns an equal return, which is determined by the quantum of distribution as well as the capital appreciation. Example, if income distribution is 1 sen per unit, each unit held by an investor will be entitled for income distribution of 1 sen.
Some investors may wish to have an investment in all the major asset classes to reduce the risk of investing in a single asset class. A balanced unit trust fund generally has a portfolio comprising equities, fixed income securities and cash.
An equity unit trust is the most common type of unit trust where its concentration of investments is focussed in equities or securities of listed companies. Equity unit trust funds are popular in Malaysia as they provide investors with exposure to the companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. The performance of the units is therefore linked to the performance of Bursa Malaysia. A rising market will normally give rise to an increase in the value of the unit and vice-versa. There is a wide array of equity unit trusts available in the market, ranging from funds with higher risk, higher returns to funds with lower risk, lower returns.
ETF is linked unit trust fund whose investment objective is to achieve the same return as a particular market index. ETF often have low expense ratios and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day through a stockbroker, on an exchange.
Fixed income funds invest mainly in Malaysian Government Securities, corporate bonds, and money market instruments. The objective of a fixed income fund is usually to provide regular income.
These funds invest in a range of companies that closely match (or “track”) companies comprising a particular index.
International equity funds are funds primarily invested in overseas stock markets
Money market funds invest in liquid, low risk money market instruments that are in effect short-term deposits (loans) to banks and other-low risk-financial institutions, and in short-term government securities. Hence, money market funds in general have relatively lower risk and provide stable income returns.
REITs invest in real properties, usually prominent commercial properties and provide the investor with an opportunity to participate in the property market in a way which is normally impossible to the small time investor. By investing into REITS, however, it is possible to invest a small amount to gain exposure to the property market and have diversification in your portfolio
The objective of Shariah funds is to invest into Shariah compliant investments which for example exclude companies involved in activities, products or services related to conventional banking, insurance and financial services, gambling, alcoholic beverages and non-halal food products.
The investment scheme of a unit trust fund can be illustrated as a tripartite relationship between the manager, the trustee and the unitholders. The manager is responsible for the management and operations of the unit trust fund whilst the trustee holds all the assets of the unit trust fund. The obligations and rights of each of the three parties are specified in the Deed, (a legal document entered into between the manager and the trustee, and registered with the Securities Commission).
The Deed regulates the duties and responsibilities of the manager and the trustee with regard to the operations of the trust fund and protects the unitholders' interests.
1959 -1979
The first couple of decades in the history of the unit trust industry were characterised by slow growth and a lack of public interest in the new investment product. Only five unit trust management companies were established, with a total of 18 funds introduced over that period. The industry was regulated by several parties including the Registrar of Companies, The Public Trustee of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. The 1970s also witnessed the emergence of state government sponsored unit trusts, in response to the Federal Government's call to mobilise domestic household savings.
1980 to 1990
This period marked the entry of government participation in the unit trust industry and the formation of a committee to regulate the unit trust industry, called the informal committee for unit trust funds, comprising representatives from the Registrar of Companies (ROC), the Public Trustee of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Capital Issues Committee (CIC). The 1980s also marked a significant development in the history of the industry when Skim Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) was launched by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) in 1981. Despite only 11 funds being launched during this period, the total units subscribed by the public swelled to an unprecedented level because of the overwhelming response to ASN. In addition, the 1980s witnessed the emergence of more unit trust management companies, which were subsidiaries of financial institutions. Their participation facilitated the marketing and distribution of unit trusts through bank's branch network which widened investor reach.
1991 to 1999
This period witnessed the fastest growth of the unit trust industry in terms of the number of new management companies established and funds under management. The centralisation of industry regulation, with the establishment of the Securities Commission on 1 March 1993, coupled with the implementation of the Securities Commission (Unit Trust Scheme) Regulations in 1996 and extensive marketing strategies adopted by the ASN and ASB (Amanah Saham Bumiputera), played key roles in making unit trusts household products in Malaysia. Consequently, the total asset value of funds under management grew more than threefold from RM15.72 billion at the end of 1992 to RM59.95 billion at the end of 1996. The period also saw greater product innovation and deregulation of the industry.
2000 to current
In 2005 the unit trust industry experienced another year of strong growth which saw the net asset value of managed funds capitalising 14.2% of Bursa Malaysia’s market at RM98.5 billion at the end of 2005. Further, the liberalisation of overseas investment rules (such as the increase in overseas investment limit from 10% to 30%) by Bank Negara Malaysia has seen unit trust management companies launching numerous offshore funds or realigning investment strategies of domestic funds to invest offshore up to the permitted limit.
As Unit trusts are a collective investment scheme, the investors can start with an investment amount as low as RM100.
Risk is better spread out in line with the saying "Don’t put all your eggs in one basket".
Investment can easily be converted back to cash. Unit trusts provide this feature as units can easily be easily bought or sold.
Unit trusts fund managers are approved professionals in a highly regulated industry.
It makes it easy to have exposure to asset classes concurrently so that the investor can gain the investment exposure he seeks.
Pooling money with that of other investors gives the advantage of buying in bulk, making dealing costs an insignificant part of the investment.
Through eunittrust.com.my, investors are able to get access to wholesale yields and products.
Regulations provide investors with a level of comfort that they are investing in a safe investment mechanism. Ie: Securities Commission (SC) & Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FIMM).
Incomplete account opening registration?Click here to resume