What makes you happy.

Salaam and Good Blessings to all...

I am as subscriber of SUCCESS e-magazine and I regularly receive useful, inspiring and empowering information that all of us can relate to. It works for me to  keep my own level of inspiration and empowerment. Today, in my INBOX, I received this one below and I would like to share the except with you:

 

What makes you happy....really?

 

That’s a serious question… maybe one of the most important questions of your life. But did you know most people can’t answer it correctly?

In his book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard professor Dan Gilbert explains that most of us think we know what makes us happy, but typically we are wrong.

I have found there are three major traps in which you might be unknowingly making yourself unhappy.

The first unhappiness trap is postponing happiness. The “when-I -(fill in the blank), I-will-be-happy” syndrome. The reality is happiness, isn’t something to be acquired in the future. You are either happy now or not; “then” never arrives. Living and striving for “then” results in a constant state of unhappiness. Now is the only time you have to be happy.

 

The second unhappiness trap is we spend our lives trying to make other people happy which can make us very unhappy. Many times we are living a life we didn’t even choose ourselves. We might have simply, and unconsciously, started pursuing the idea of happiness programmed by our parents, peers, societal culture, or the examples given to us by Hollywood or commercialism. Whose idea of success are you living out?

Third unhappiness trap is contrast. For the most part happiness is really an illusion. In other words, you make up the idea of whether you are happy or not. And you really only know how to judge something by comparing it to something else. Typically this means comparing yourself to other people. This is dangerous business because there will always be reference points that will cause you to be unhappy.

The bottom line is this, happiness creates, this is not derived from the outside, it is only derived from within. Happiness is a state of mind. And you can continually choose to be happy.

Here is the best way I know to live in happiness—live in gratitude. When you focus on all you have and all that you are, right now, that is where happiness is born. Once it is born now you can nurture it further by discovering those other experiences that bring you increased joy, happiness and exhilaration.

Besides just the feel-good factor of happiness, there is one very measurable and meaningful outcome I think you might be interested in. Comprehensive research studies have proven that happy and optimistic sales people outsell their pessimistic counter parts by 56 percent!

Imagine being able to grow your organization’s sales revenue by 56 percent with no additional investment in marketing, infrastructure, head count or even increased effort, but by simply by helping those around you be happy and get and keep a positive attitude. As a leader interested in tangible improved results, this could be the best use of your time and resources… and a very important issue to study.

 

Now, let’s get happy!

 

Give everyone ideas on getting happy - what 3 things make you most happy? How often do you spend your time doing those things? 

Salaam....

New Fund .... PI Alpha40 Growth Fund

FAQS FOR THE LAUNCH OF PUBLIC ISLAMIC ALPHA-40 GROWTH
FUND (PIA40GF) 
 

The Public Islamic Alpha-40 Growth Fund (PIA40GF) is an Islamic equity fund
that seeks to achieve capital growth by investing up to a maximum of 40 stocks
which comply with Shariah requirements.
 
FAQS
 
Q1: What are the main features of Public Islamic Alpha-40 Growth Fund (PIA40GF)? 

 An Islamic equity fund that seeks to achieve capital growth by investing up to a maximum of 40 stocks which comply with Shariah requirements.  Equity exposure: generally range from 75% to 98% of its net asset value (NAV).  To achieve increased diversification, the fund may invest up to 30% of its NAV in selected foreign markets. The foreign markets which the fund may invest in include Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and other markets.

Q2: What makes Malaysia an attractive market to invest in? 

After rebounding by 45.2%1 in 2009, the Malaysian equity market, as proxied by the FBM KLCI, strengthened further above 1,400 points and closed at the current level of 1,466.97 points on 17 September 2010 amidst firmer offshore markets coupled with stronger-than-expected economic growth for the first half of 2010. After contracting by 1.7%1 in 2009, the Malaysian economy is expected to grow by 6.8%2 in 2010 amid a rebound in the manufacturing and services sectors. However, Malaysia’s GDP growth is envisaged to ease to 5.2%2 in 2011 as export growth is expected to moderate.  The local equity market is supported by fair valuations and sustained domestic liquidity.  At the KLCI’s closing level of 1,466.97 points on 17 September 2010, the local stock market is trading at a prospective P/E of 14.1x1 on 2011 earnings, which is below the market’s 10-year average P/E ratio of 16.5x1. The local market is also supported by a gross dividend yield of about 3.3%1, which is line with the 10-year average of 3.5%1 and exceeds the current 12-month fixed deposit rate of 2.85%1.

 
Q3: What are the prospects for the Malaysian Shariah-based equity market? (to be provided by Investment)


• According to Bursa Malaysia as at 31 May 2010, 88% of the securities currently listed
on the local bourse are Shariah-compliant representing about two-thirds of Bursa
Malaysia’s market capitalisation. 
• Hence, local investors who are seeking to invest in instruments that are in accordance to
Shariah principles will have access to an extensive selection of Shariah-compliant stocks
across diversified industries and sectors. 
• Going forward, domestic Shariah compliant stocks are supported by below trend
valuations, reasonable earnings growth and a sustained economic environment amidst
accommodative real interest rates and reasonable liquidity conditions. 

Q4: How do you identify the 40 Shariah-based stocks? 

In identifying companies for investment, fundamental research is carried out whereby the financial health, industry prospects, management quality and past track records of the companies are considered. The valuations of stocks are also assessed using valuation benchmarks such as Price Earnings Ratio (PER), Price to Net Tangible Assets Ratio (Price/NTA) and dividend yields.

Q5: What makes PIA40GF attractive to prospective investors?

PIA40GF allows investors the opportunity to participate in the long-term growth potential of a portfolio comprising up to 40 selected Shariah-compliant blue chip stocks, index stocks and growth stocks listed primarily on Bursa Securities and selected foreign markets. As PIA40GF focuses its investment in a portfolio of up to 40 stocks, this allows the fund manager to adopt a more focused investment strategy. This enables investors the opportunity to achieve higher potential returns over the medium- to long-term as the fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of stocks.

Q6: Who are most suited to invest in PIA40GF?

 PIA40GF is suitable for existing and prospective investors who:
o have aggressive risk-reward temperament.
o are medium- to long-term investors. 
o can withstand extended periods of market highs and lows in pursuit of capital growth.
o would like to participate in the long-term growth potential of a concentrated portfolio
of up to 40 quality stocks which comply with Shariah requirements.

Q7: What is the fund objective? How about the fund’s investment strategy? 

Aims to achieve capital growth by investing in stocks which comply with Shariah requirements. The fund is actively managed to achieve capital growth by investing in up to a maximum of 40 stocks which comply with Shariah requirements. In addition to the domestic market, PIA40GF may invest up to 30% of its NAV in regional markets which include Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and other markets to achieve increased diversification. 

Q8: What is the fund’s benchmark index? What is the historical return of the PIA40GF’s benchmark index?

An appropriate benchmark to be used to evaluate the performance of PIA40GF and its
component indices are as follows:
o 75% FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Shariah Index
o 15% customised index based on Top 100 constituents by market capitalisation of the S&P Shariah BMI Asia Ex-Japan Index
o 10% 3-month Islamic Interbank Money Market (IIMM) rate

This benchmark index has registered a total return of 9.86% for the 1-year period up to
31 August 2010.
 
Q9: What are some of the sectors that PIA40GF will be looking to invest in? 

Sectors which PIA40GF will look to invest in include plantation, oil & gas, automotive,
consumer, infrastructure, telecommunications and technology.

Q10: What level of risks will we be looking at when investing in PIA40GF? 

As the fund only invests in up to a maximum of 40 stocks, with an equity exposure ranging from 75% to 98% of its NAV, PIA40GF may experience significant volatility in times of adverse market movements. The asset allocation, liquidity management and diversification strategies employed are central to the efforts to manage the risks posed to the fund. 

Q11: When is PIA40GF going to be launched? 

16 November 2010

Q12: What is the initial issue price? And when is the offer period? 

The initial issue price is RM0.2500 per unit during the 21-day offer period from 16
November to 6 December 2010. 

Q13: What is the approved fund size of PIA40GF? 

 The approved fund size for PIA40GF is 1.5 billion units.

Q14: Please tell us the service charge and the annual management fee involved when investing in PIA40GF. Is there any repurchase charge? 

 The service charge is up to 5.5% of the NAV per unit after offer period. 
 The annual management fee is 1.5% per annum of the NAV.  
 There is no repurchase charge.  

Q15: What is the minimum initial investment and minimum additional investment of the fund? 
 The minimum initial investment is RM1,000 and minimum additional investment is
RM100.

Q16: Will there be any special promotion to support the launch of PIA40GF?

There will be special service charges offered for investments into PIA40GF during the
offer period:

• Investment amount per transaction /
• Promotion Special Service Charge
• RM5,000 to RM9,999 per transaction  5.25% of Initial Issue Price per unit
• RM10,000 and above per transaction 5.00% of Initial Issue Price per unit
• Direct Debit Instruction (DDI) submitted
• during Offer Period 5.25% of net asset value (NAV)                 

Salaaam.....

Budget 2011

Salaam,

There you have it guys, the budget have come and gone.

PM NAJIB have laid it out for us. There were mix responses. You could hear echos of "Good! Good! Good!.." from certain quarters and on the other end of the spectrum, you hear..."Alaa!, its an election budget!"

Mostly, those that represent the two spectrums are politicians of opposing fences who expect to gain political mileage from any national agenda....Biasa la tu kan?

But for us man/woman on the street, how does it affect us?
Did you find anything interesting from it?
Most importantly did you find anything that will adversely change your lifestyle...improve it or otherwise?

We all may have differing reactions to PM NAJIB's Budget 2011 speech but in any case it will affect us all just the same.

Budget 2011 is the first budget under the RMK10 and is the government's effort to move towards VISION 2020 developed nation agenda. This year, there is a3 % increase in allocation to RM212 billion to achieve the aforesaid agenda. The

The allocation total,
RM162.8 billion will be used for operating expenditure,
RM49.2 billion is allocated for development expenditure.

The overall budget has seen a focus towards meeting the needs of the RAKYAT whilst providing incentives and implementing projects that could stimulate the economy.

"The budget realities of 2011 embraced the spirit and lift the current administration as a philosophical concept 1Malaysia main driving direction of the country, Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Plan is to map the user.

"Six Key Result Areas State (NKRA), the New Economic Model with eight core, also formed a framework towards the direction will be interpreted by the Tenth Malaysia Plan (RMK-10) and the Eleventh Plan (RMK-11),'' he said.

Our PM Najib also did not forget the efforts to develop human capital, focusing on the importance of education and welfare of civil servants, including provision of financial assistance. This budget also emphasizes improving the quality of life as the country moves to stabilize economy was developing well.

According to the PM Naijb, economic growth has seen the government revise the rates for this year to seven percent from six percent. This is much higher compared to negative 1.7 percent in 2009.

He also said the economy will continue its performance by increasing the production of the manufacturing sector grew at 10.8 percent, services 6.5 percent and 4.9 percent financing, while private consumption and investment expenditure respectively 15.2 per cent and 6.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent of exports.

Key indicators towards strengthening the domestic economy is a surge of Bursa Malaysia's Composite Index of 1.496 points on 14 October which is the highest since February 2008.

We can safely conclude that the general market accepted BUDGET 2011 amidst the noise of politically motivated statements and response. 

Personally, all in all... I think we are still good! Happy to be in MALAYSIA

Selamat Hari Raya....Dear Friends

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin I hope and pray that all of you had a good RAYA and those of a different faith had a good break and a wonderful time celebrating the festivities with your Muslim friends...

Salaam All,
Now you can optimise your EPF savings with funds that invest in offshore markets! Public Mutual has 11 new EPF-approved funds, which have the mandate to invest up to 30 percent of the fund's net asset value in overseas markets. Take this opportunity to diversify your EPF monies with foreign equity exposure through these funds. EPF Approved Funds with Overseas Exposure Equity Funds     Public Aggressive Growth Fund     Public Focus Select Fund    Public Industry Fund     Public Dividend Select Fund     Public Growth Fund    Public Savings Fund     Public Equity Fund     PB Growth Fund Equity Fund (Shariah)      Public Ittikal Fund Balanced Fund       Public Balanced Fund      PB Balanced Fund

Public Mutual declares distributions for 11 funds

 Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual, declared distributions for
11 funds totalling more than RM143 million. The gross distributions declared for
the respective funds for the financial year ended 30 June 2010 are as follows:

Fund name and its respective Gross Distribution / Unit
Public Far-East Consumer Themes Fund 3.50 sen per unit
PB Growth Fund 8.00 sen per unit
PB Asia Equity Fund 2.00 sen per unit
PB China ASEAN Equity Fund 3.50 sen per unit
PB Islamic Asia Equity Fund 1.50 sen per unit
PB Balanced Fund 7.00 sen per unit
PB Fixed Income Fund 5.00 sen per unit
PB Islamic Bond Fund 5.00 sen per unit
Public Islamic Money Market Fund 2.00 sen per unit
PB Cash Management Fund 2.00 sen per unit
PB Islamic Cash Management Fund 1.90 sen per unit

Public Mutual Chief Executive Officer Ms. Yeoh Kim Hong said Public Far-East
Consumer Themes Fund has generated a one-year return of 23.58% for the period
ended 18 June 2010 (Source: Lipper, 22 June 2010).  

Meanwhile, PB Growth Fund, PB Asia Equity Fund and PB China ASEAN Equity
Fund have generated one-year returns of 23.43%, 7.47% and 18.34% respectively
for the period ended 18 June 2010. PB Growth Fund, which was launched in 2002,
is an award-winning fund, having received a total of seven awards in its category
from The Edge-Lipper Malaysia Fund Awards and The Star/Standard & Poor’s
Investment Fund Awards Malaysia. Within the same period, PB Islamic Asia Eq-
uity Fund generated a one-year return of 11.56%.

PB Balanced Fund, which was launched in 1998, is also an award-winning fund,
having received a total of 17 awards in its category from The Edge-Lipper Malaysia
Fund Awards, Morningstar Fund Awards (Malaysia) and The Star/Standard &
Poor’s Investment Fund Awards Malaysia. This fund generated a one-year return of
13.67% for the period ended 18 June 2010.

..of Banglas and Teppenyakis...

Salaam and Good Blessings...


Last Friday, like any other Friday evenings, my family would go out for dinner as the kitchen closes every Friday evening to give it a break. Stumped in deciding where to eat amongst our usual locale I suggested for the family to go to the FOOD GARDEN, a food court at THE GARDENS.

The last time we were there was to grab a quick drink before the start of our evenings at the movies. Since it was too close to movie starting time, we dashed in, bought the drinks and moved on. But the brief moment in FOOD GARDEN impressed me with the choices of food and the attractive ambience of the settings.

Last Friday, I thought that it would be a good place to try our meal there. There were many stalls and the choices were rangy too. From Japanese to Korean to Middle Eastern and Indonesian specialties and the usual local dishes. As my family and I walked around to decide what to eat, one thing struck my mind! The workers were ALL BANGLAs, and I mean ALL the stalls!!!! The Japanese dishes were attractive but the teppenyaki was prepared by Banglas, so was the KOREAN and Middle Eastern stalls and even the bus boys were bhais too.

I have nothing against our hard working bhais of Banglas and do not also undermine their skills in anything (especially in culinary that night). But this visit just led me to think how dependent our nation is on foreign labor. We even have "Little Nepal" and "Little Myanmars" in some parts of KL on account of the ginormous number of them on shore. Not to mention the huge population of "mas" and "embak"

Local statistics on foreign workers in Malaysia can shed some light on this issue. Guess how many foreign workers we have here....almost 2million! and these are the legal ones. It is also estimated that there is just as many of them onshore illegally!!!

Malaysia is the largest employer of foreign labor in ASEAN. Remittance by our "bhais" and "mas" accounts about 1.5% of our GDP. Between 1995 to 2005 there was an increase of 33% in foreign labor and 98%of them are low skilled migrant workers. We have about 10 million hard working people pedaling our economy growth after growth and a whopping 38% of them are not from within our shores. The New Malaysian Economic Model revealed by Najib last March indicated that too high a dependency on foreign labor is hampering our growth towards a developed nation.

Numbers usually tell a story, here is the % of highly skilled labor in these nations, take a look...
25%- MALAYSIA
49%- SINGAPORE
35%- SOUTH KOREA

This says 75% of our (MALAYSIAN) work force are of the low skilled category so that means low wages. So how la my friends to convert Malaysia into a high income economy!

Think about this people...

Btw...the food at THE FOOD GARDENS...okaay only la!

Into the 2nd Quarter of 2010..

Salaam and Good Blessing to all...
We have just passed the first three months of FY10 with a rather sedated economic environment compared to the previous few quarters of uncertainty and wildness. The growth environment of 2009 continued into the first quarter of 2010., Thank goodness.

In the past week, buying interest in banking and plantation counters of our BURSA indicates confidence in the sector as the economy progresses into steady and stable environment buoyed by increased consumer spending. Export growth also registered improvement compared to the same period last year. These positive factors can give the market fuel for further growth and we can expect it to continue into the rest of the next quarter of 2010, at least.

The effects of the financial stimulus package is showing positive signs and credit must go to the government for its timely injection of the various stimulus "anecdotes" to take the economy to where it is right now. Some have questioned if these stimulus packages will be withdrawn slowly now that we are in a healthy environment. Fro me, perhaps it is too early to consider this. However, any consideration of this nature  by our government should take into account the short term impact it would bring whilst balancing the long-term objectives of the economic reform of the country

But in respect to Malaysia's economic journey relative to its neighbors, Malaysia cannot operate solely towards its own objectives and agendas as the modern day economic scenarios is such that each country's deep dependence and inter relationship will effect one another performance.

We, as investors must monitor the development of events beyond our shores, (economic or otherwise) when investing. It does not matter if you are ONLY a local (domestic) investor, you will still need to keep a breast with the events of the world, at least of the nearest region as this would effect your investment portfolio.

In reading the business and economic headlines, it is pleasing to note the growth numbers being recorded in most economies. I will refrain from repeating these growth numbers as they are already heavily published and one can easily source them.

Let's hope this growth agenda continues and while we trust upon our fund managers to "look" into their crystal ball for the investment outlook, it would benefit us much to continue our diligence to monitor ourselves the world scenario.

Happy investing...

Watch out for this new fund...

Some of you may already have been informed about Public Mutual's latest fund launch - Public Islamic Asia Leaders Equity Fund (PIALEF) on 19 January 2010. It give investors an opportunity to take advantage of the growth potential of mid to large caps Shariah compliant companies trading in domestic and regional markets. 

When in a position of potentially explosive growth, usually it is  companies that are already positioned in terms of size and market share that will benefit the most to pounce the growth bandwagon and PMutual fund manager believe  it is the mid and large caps companies that fit this category and thus the rational of this new fund launch.

Confidence stemming from a strong 2009 global and regional market rebound is expected to follow through into 2010. This is further supported by continued fiscal stimulus and accommodating policy measures which is expected to sustain the global economic recovery with regional economic growth envisaged to outpace the growth of developed economies. CEO of PMutual Berhad is quoted, “Over the medium- to long-term, regional markets are expected to outperform due to their reasonable valuations, high savings rates, brighter economic growth prospects and stronger fiscal positions."

PIALEF is an Islamic equity fund and may invest in sectors which include infrastructure, telecommunication manufacturing, consumer, technology, conglomerates and natural resources. with equity exposure of generally range from 75% to 98% of its net asset value (NAV).

The initial issue price RM0.2500 per unit during the 21-day initial offer period from 19 January to 8 February 2010.  During the offer period, special promotional service charges as low as 5% of initial issue price per unit.

Go chcck out the details of this new fund at www.publicmutual.com.my

Financial Health Check

While its common that we hear people visit their doctors to do their annual health check, its another thing to some of us that we should do a FINANCIAL HEALTH check at all! In fact the general response we get is...Huh! apa itu ~!! 

 

Just like the results of your blood test, which indicates the present state of physical health by which your doctor will review and diagnose your condition and subsequently prescribe the necessary remedy, the FINANCIAL HEALTH check does about the same but it is diagnosed by your qualified and competent FINANCIAL PLANNER (FP). Another way to explain this is...if you are on a long road trip heading to somewhere, you'd usually make stops to look into the map or perhaps even stop to ask for directions  to ensure that you are going the right way. An annual financial checkup serves the same purpose. It's an opportunity to review how you've done financially over the past twelve months and make sure you're still headed in the right direction, whatever you financial goal may be!
 
A good time to do your annual financial checkup is before the end of the year or if you find that is too much of a disruption to your holiday plans or partying moods...then make a note in your calender to do it as soon after the new year comes in. 
 
Here's what you should do...
Reveiw your Goals
The first step in your financial checkup is reviewing and evaluating your financial goals and objectives. If you are one of the smart few who have engaged the services of a financial advisor or financial planner (FP) to assist you with your wealth managements matters, make an appointment with him/her to speak about this. Please ensure that your FP is LQC i.e LICENSED, QUALIFIED and COMPETENT! Some important Qs to ask and discuss with your FP may include, have you made any progress with your objectives this year, if not..why? have any of the financial objectives change at all that requires resetting of your financial plans...have there been changes in your own personal situation that requires alterations to your financial objective.


Identify changes in your own Personal Situation
These personal situation changes can be anything from...a new job, a divorce (or for the guys...kahwin satu lagi!!), another baby (or babies...on account of the first and second wives delivering the same time), a new car, or even a disposal of one of your many cars, a passion in a new found hobby. Whatever these changes are, definite alternations in financial goals and objectives are necessary and you need to highlight this to your FP to make the necessary recommendations.

Asset Protection Review
We are most fimiliar with the term insurance but many of us fail to realize that insurance review is an important part of financial check up. Speak to your FP to review your asset protection situation on account of your changes in situation which includes houseowner's  insurance, health insurance, auto insurance. Don't forget to protect the greatest asset of all - your income earning ability - with long-term disability insurance.

Review your WILL / WASIAT 
Again this may relate to the changes in your personal situation...that pesky younger brother has finally gotten too much...he sneaked into your room to flick your INDIANA JONES COLLECTORS DVD and sold it to buy  tickets to TONY ORLANDO's concerts in GENTING!!!...and you no longer think he deserves mention in you WILL....REVIEW TIME!...Well you can catch my point here...if there are any particular changes that has taken place and require updating....discuss this with your FP.

Reveiw and Evaluate Your Investments
Are they meeting the targets and are you satisfied with their performance? If you are not sure of the direction, get your FP to share with you the market outlook and invite him to make recommendations.


List down and Evaluate Your "Hutang Piutang" (Debts) 
When you do a FINANCIAL HEALTH check, one of the important ratios to review is the debt to income ratio. This ratio tells you how much of your income goes to settling debts. How are you doing in this area? Is it within control? Has that credit card debt balance outstanding decreased or increased over the last 12 months? If it has been increasing, its best to figure out why? Remember, is important to plan for FUTURE CONSUMPTION too and this is difficult to do when most of your income is used for CURRENT CONSUMPTION. How else are you going to fund for that retirement?
Spend time too to review your housing loan mortgages and see if your FP has any idea about a new mortgage plan that can reduce your monthly commitments and perhaps at the same time reduce the tenure.

Prepare for the APRIL tax month...
During this month, you dread the nights when you are constantly jolted in your sleep with shouts from inside your head..."THE TAXMAN IN COMINGGG! THE TAXMAN IS COMINGGG!"...It makes Freddy KRUEGER run for cover too!!!"
This is a good time to plan for next year's tax commitments. What can you do to minimize them? Start to collect you reciepts of allowable deductions and put them in order for your LHDN submissions. It pays to be  organize. 

Review Your Retirement Plans
How much has the EPF fund grown over the 12 months. Is this sufficient for your retirement? Do you need an additional investment plan? Again you FP should be able to help you on this.
 
At the end of this check up you'd be in a better view of your FINANCIAL HEALTH...so how did you do? If your financial health is in good shape,  good on you!!!...if otherwise then you need help in your wealth management matters!

EPF Dividend Policy

Salaam and Good Blessings...

EPF will be announcing the 2009 dividends soon. If most of you are like me, you'd be keen to know what sort of levels will we be seeing this year. Lets tust take a quick look at how EPF did several years back.

In 2008 EPF declared 4.5% dividend to its members, which is lower than the previous year. EPF accounts this to "investment provisioning resulting from the sharp decline in global equity prices brought about by the worldwide financial crisis."

EPF made a huge provision of (RM4.6billion in the same year that they earned the highest ever gross income in 2008) due to reduced equity value as a result  of sharp fall in prices. This provision had effected their net earnings in an environment of not selling off their share holding. However, as the usual case of provisions, it will be written back once the market recovers. However, the announced dividend is definitely better than the 12-months FD rate offered by banks.

EPF declared that, of the RM4.69 billion provision described above, RM3.2 billion was allocated for overseas equities. In the FY2007 similar provision was just RM0.52billion. The reason for such a large differential is due the massive drop in equity markets especially in the fourth quarter of last 2008.

Despite this provisions, equities remained as the second biggest contributor to the EPF’s total gross income bringing in RM6.67 billion in 2008 compared to RM5.37 billion in 2007.

EPF proudly reports that their efforts and performance compares better than many other similar funds around the world. For example: (Source: KWSP)

The Government Pension Fund of Norway suffered a USD92 billion (RM340 billion) loss on its investments in 2008. (BBC News, 11 March 2009).
Temasek Holdings of Singapore suffered S$58 billion (RM140 billion) paper loss in eight months. (BT Singapore, 11 Feb 2009).
 
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Private Limited (GIC) asset value fell 25 per cent from its peak. (Bloomberg, 5 March 2009).
 
California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) suffered a USD68 billion (RM248.2 billion) loss in assets since October 2007 and a 41 per cent slide in its stock portfolio. (Bloomberg, 26 Feb 2009).
 
Khazanah Nasional Bhd suffered a loss of one fifth of its investment portfolio and its realisable asset value of RM88.2 billion as of May 31 was reduced to RM70.4 billion at the end of 2008. (BT, 20 January 2009).

Granted that they did better than most of the benchmarks above, we do wish that the soon to be announced dividends will help us enough to protect and build our retirement nest egg.

For your information, EPF's 10 years and 20 years average dividends are 5.18% and 6.34% respectively.  If you are comfortable with these numbers then you don't need to do anything...but I can tell you that many aren't pleased.

There have been an increase in EPF members who withdraw from their Account 1 to invest in alternative instruments that can give better returns.

Unit Turst investing has been the favorite vehicle for most of them - as 71% of members withdraw to invest in unit trust.

When your retirement future is jeopardized by low providing instruments, you ought to review your retirement planning with your financial planners to ensure a secured lifestyle...

May this image of peace, security and contentment be yours too. when retirement days comes around..

Do you find it difficult to save?

Salaam and Good Blessings

Most people take saving as the least important agenda on their monthly checklist...an afterthought.
When we get our salary or any form of income for that matter, there is always the long and almost endless list of things to attend to (mostly bills) before savings is addressed. The only time money is put into savings is when there is ANY money left after the obligations are attended to...sounds familiar?

C.S.I.
No, it is not to mean the famous TV series CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, but for me its to abbreviate the three things you need to give attention to and in the sequence it is described.

C- Commitment
Attend to your commitments first when you recieve your salary or any other form of income. It can be statutory commitments like EPF or SOCSO and even TAX and ZAKAT (for some of us). These things you cant get away from else we will attract more trouble with the law.

However there is another forms of commitment that you can control and which takes good planning and a sound and clear vision of your financial objectives and goals. These commitment come in the form of Mortgage Payments or Rent, or Hire Purchase payment. Best to plan these commitment within your budget so as it does not take away too much of your take home pay or else you will not have any thing left to live by.

S- Savings
Take this item seriously and put it as high on you monthly list as possible. Some good planners will recommend that you lump this item together with C above otherwise it will be forgotten and neglected.
One of the best way is to do this is automatic deductions form your savings or current account into your savings or investment program. Most banks have these arrangements for you with a simple form filling process at a small fee.

I - Indulge

With whatever is available after the two above have been attended to, you may enjoy your lifestyle. Do remember though that its advisable to enjoy only whatever is left and don't try to over size your lifestyle. Manage your HP bills and those eating out sessions with friends and family and as hard as it is but try to control yourself when YES (YEAR END SALE) comes around. Also "Leave home without it" (...that credit card that is)

The problem with most of us is we either practice "C" and then we do the "I" or even we drown ourselves in "I" and only sometimes look at "C"... and then we wonder how come we can't "S"..

Set the sequence right . REMEMBER.. C- S- I and enjoy that TV series too!

Go online to save your time...!

Salaam and Good Blessings...

Most of you have investment program with me via PM. Do you know that you can easily access your account via online?

It is a secured, easy and convenient facility which allows you to conduct investment transactions and make inquiries through the internet anytime.

You can make additional investments and also initial investments into new fund accounts if you are an existing unitholder. You can also pay for your investment transactions via PBebank and participating member banks of FPX (Financial Process Exchange).

Enquries can also be made online...about your investment details like SUMMARY of ACCOUNTS and TRANSACTION DETAILS.

With E-statements and E-Reports you can enjoy faster access to your account information.

With E-statemetns you can view your Statement of Transaction, Interim/Annual Statement, Quaterly Account Summary (for Mutual Gold Only) via online.

For E- Reports, you will gain access to Interim Reports and Annual Reports of your funds of investment.

You can also change your password, distribution instruction and update your personal information without the need of form filling and queuing at the bank for submission. This translates to more time for yourself to do what you do best to accumulate your wealth!

For more information, visit any PUBLIC MUTUAL BRANCH or call Customer Service Hotline at 6207 5000 or call me!

GO ONLINE TO SAVE YOUR TIME!....