My Wealth

OH - MY- GOLD!

2011-09-14T10:49:00.002+08:00

Salaam and Good Blessings,
Some of you are already an active investor in AU METAL (i.e. GOLD), CONGRATULATIONS

In recent times, there has been a plethora of reports written by local and foreigns analyst of the prospect of this commodity. This posting is not an attempt to reproduce them but it is just to share (in brief) some recent common outlook.

The rush for GOLD has not eased and it has driven prices to test new levels close to 1980s inflation-adjusted records. This is further fueled by many fund managers taking a "safe-insurance" position with this commodity against the back drop of unstable macro economic challenges of developed countries, including threats of financial systematic risk, including concerns for double dip inflation and low interest rates.

The outlook for GOLD is favorably bullish with targets of US$1819 per ounce by 2012. (1 kg equals 35.274oz). Morgan Stanley even reports that they believe there is an 85% chance that GOLD will trade US$2085 per oz next year.

As mentioned in previous posting, it is recommended that you add GOLD into your basket of investment portfolio. Its capital preservation benefits will be a solid anchor during a period of economic storm and financial system fragility.

PUT YOUR FINGER INTO GOLD!

Eid Mubarak...

2011-08-28T14:17:00.001+08:00

have a safe journey if you are traveling and may you feast sensibly...!

STOCKS PLUNGE...GOLD SOARS!

2011-08-09T12:19:00.001+08:00

Several postings back, I shared about the prospects of investing in GOLD. I mentioned about it being the best preserver of value, well this call is still strong now especially under the circumstances the global economy is going thru.

At time of writing, the FBMKL is trading at 1460.19, 36.8 points off - which equals 2.45% down. This is a continuation from yesterday's sell down where the index lost 27.44points or equal to 1.8%....this is also over 100 points off from its highest recorded mark of 1594.74.

Other losing market at this time are KOREA, -6.2%, HANG SENG - 5.54%, NIKKIE - 3.73%

Apparently blood is not only flowing in certain cities in UK because of the riots...but in the BURSAs too!

GOLD prices has been CLIMBING over the last 11 years and it looks to continue this trend. It touched USD1700 (RM5134) an ounce yesterday at the back of growing concerns of the global economic meltdown. With the biggest economy in the world (US) looking frail, ill and "on drips" much like a critical patient in ICU...the fear factor that is abound is causing a value wipe out of USD5.4 TRILLION! Europe is also in sick bay with doctors and nurses keeping watch of the pulse. But it has not been good news so far.

But...there is some pleasant news to most domestic equity investors - in that the MALAYSIAN market has seen the least value lost during this challenging period. This is perhaps due to the fact that most of the global funds managers and investors view Malaysia as offering the best of the worst economic environment and they have actually "flown-into" our shores with the substantial increase in FDI over the last 10months.

More and more investors are seeking "safe homes" for their money. There is just too much pessimism or nervousness associated with the economies and currencies of major nations. And they will continue to seek the GOLDen horizon.

Even the CHINESE government have recently called on all major governments to GO BACK TO more stable currency backing reserves...they meant GOLD!

This call was already BLARED loud and hard many years back when TUN M was our PM. Whether this will help the situation or not is debatable but in any case individual investors must take serious consideration to add GOLD in their portfolio if they have yet to.

Public Mutual declares income distributions for 10 funds

2011-08-04T09:12:00.003+08:00

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual, declared distributions
totaling more than RM286 million for ten of its funds. The gross distributions
declared for the respective funds for the financial year ending 31 July 2011 are as
follows:

Fund Gross Distribution (sen per unit)
Public Growth Fund 6.00
Public Australia Equity Fund 2.25
Public Optimal Growth Fund 1.75
Public Far-East Property & Resorts Fund 0.50
Public Islamic Opportunities Fund 3.00
Public Islamic Select Enterprises Fund 2.00
Public Bond Fund 5.25
Public Islamic Select Bond Fund 5.00
Public Islamic Income Fund 3.50
PBB MTN Fund 1 4.00

According to Lipper dated 20 July 2011, Public Growth Fund has generated a one-
year return of 24.64% for the period ended 15 July 2011 which is above its
benchmark return of 18.23%. Public Growth Fund is open for EPF Members
Investment Scheme.

Meanwhile, Public Australia Equity Fund which was launched in September 2009,
gives investors the opportunity to capitalise on the long term growth potential of the
Australian market, given the country’s strong position in natural resources and its
diversified services sector. This fund has generated a one-year return of 18.72% for
the same period which is above its benchmark return of 14.67%.

Public Optimal Growth Fund is an equity fund which generated a one-year return of
17.76% for the period ended 15 July 2011. The fund was launched in June 2010 to
provide income and capital growth by investing in stocks which offer attractive
dividend yields and growth stocks in the domestic market.

Public Far-East Property & Resorts Fund on the other hand, focuses its investments
in property, hotel and resorts stocks, and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
The fund generated a one-year return of 16.28% over the same period which is
above its benchmark return of 14.81%.

Public Islamic Opportunities Fund and Public Islamic Select Enterprises Fund have
generated one-year returns of 11.30% and 26.88% respectively for the period ended
15 July 2011. Public Islamic Select Enterprises Fund is open for EPF Members
Investment Scheme.

On bond funds, Public Bond Fund, Public Islamic Select Bond Fund and Public
Islamic Income Fund, recorded one-year returns of 9.34%, 4.77% and 5.67%,
respectively for the period ended 15 July 2011. Public Bond Fund is an award-
winning fund, having garnered a total of 25 awards to date, while Public Islamic
Income Fund is open for EPF Members Investment Scheme.

PBB MTN Fund 1, on the other hand, is a close-ended wholesale bond fund which
generated a one-year return of 5.46% for the period ended 15 July 2011. The fund
was launched in November 2009 to provide a steady stream of income returns
through investment in subordinated medium-term notes issued by Public Bank
Berhad.

All of the above funds are distributed by Public Mutual unit trust consultants except
for PBB MTN Fund 1, which is distributed via Public Bank branches nationwide.

Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 87 funds under
management. It has over 2.5 million accountholders and as at 30 June 2011, the
total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM44.3 billion.

Public Mutual declares distributions for 13 funds

2011-07-04T12:14:00.001+08:00

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual, declared distributions for

13 of its funds. The gross distributions declared for the respective funds for the

financial year ended 30 June 2011 are as follows:

Fund Gross Distribution / Unit

Public Far-East Consumer Themes Fund

4.00 sen per unit

PB Growth Fund

8.50 sen per unit

PB China ASEAN Equity Fund

6.00 sen per unit

PB Asia Equity Fund

3.50 sen per unit

PB Singapore Advantage-30 Equity Fund

0.65 sen per unit

PB Islamic Asia Equity Fund

0.75 sen per unit

PB Balanced Fund

7.50 sen per unit

PB Islamic Bond Fund

5.75 sen per unit

PB Fixed Income Fund

5.25 sen per unit

PB Infrastructure Bond Fund

3.25 sen per unit

Public Islamic Money Market Fund

2.50 sen per unit

PB Cash Management Fund

2.50 sen per unit

PB Islamic Cash Management Fund

2.25 sen per unit

Public Mutual Chief Executive Officer Ms. Yeoh Kim Hong said the above funds

have performed well and have delivered respectable returns in its categories for the

period ended 10 June 2011.

According to The Edge-Lipper Fund Table dated 20 June 2011, Public Far-East

Consumer Themes Fund has generated a one-year return of 16.03% for the period

ended 10 June 2011.

Meanwhile, PB Growth Fund, PB China ASEAN Equity Fund, PB Asia Equity

Fund and PB Singapore Advantage-30 Equity Fund have generated one-year returns

of 23.14%, 12.99%, 12.91% and 10.17% respectively for the period ended 10 June

2011. PB Growth Fund 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. For the same period,

PB Islamic Asia Equity Fund generated a one-year return of 12.98%.

Meanwhile, PB Balanced Fund has generated a one-year return of 16.76% for the

same period. PB Balanced Fund 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.

At the same time, PB Islamic Bond Fund, PB Fixed Income Fund and PB Infra-

structure Bond Fund have generated one-year returns of 11.80%, 6.95% and 5.93%

respectively for the same period. PB Islamic Bond Fund won awards from the

Dubai-based, Failaka Islamic Fund Awards 2010 and Morningstar 2010 Fund

Awards (Malaysia)

As for our money market funds, Public Islamic Money Market Fund, PB Cash

Management Fund and PB Islamic Cash Management Fund have generated one-

year returns of 2.57%, 2.51% and 2.43% respectively for the same period. The

money market funds provide an option for investors with low tolerance to risk who

wish to park their money on a short-term basis while waiting for opportune time to

investing in or switching back to equity, balanced or bond funds.

PB Growth Fund, PB Balanced Fund, PB Islamic Bond Fund, Public Islamic Mon-

ey Market Fund and PB Cash Management Fund are open for EPF Members

Investment Scheme.

All funds are distributed via Public Bank branches nationwide with the exception of

Public Far-East Consumer Themes Fund and Public Islamic Money Market Fund,

which are distributed by Public Mutual unit trust consultants.

Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 86 funds under

management. It has over 2.4 million accountholders and as at 31 May 2011, the

total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM43.95 billion.

Feeding Off Buffett’s Formula

2011-05-24T12:39:00.001+08:00

This article below was extracted from Calibre, a monthly publication by Public Mutual for its clients. Some of you may have received a copy and read it. It is a great read and I hope you don't mind that I reproduce it here.

"Warren Buffett’s management record is even more successful than his phenomenal investment record. He uses a management strategy that is surprisingly simple yet promises successful outcomes to newcomers and seasoned professionals alike.

Warren Buffett is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often referred to as the "legendary investor," he is ranked the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2011. He is also the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate holding company that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies.

Why Emulate Buffett’ Management Style?

Besides being a genius at investing, Buffet is also a genius of a manager. His record speaks for itself. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, employs 233,000 employees around the globe with over eighty-eight CEOs of different companies reporting directly or indirectly to him. The company’s operational annual net income grew from USD18 a share in 1979 to USD4,093 a share in 2007. This equates to a compounding annual growth rate of 21.39 percent - substantially better than Berkshire’s investment portfolio that grew at an annual compounding rate of 19.78 percent in the same period. This record clearly illustrates that Warren and his managers are doing a fantastic job of minding the store.
What management philosophy underscores this success? Mary Buffet and David Clark give us an insider’s view of his managerial style by culling his most important strategies into a book titled ‘Warren Buffett’s Management Secrets: Proven Tools For Personal And Business Success.’ Here his managerial philosophy is distilled into five primary segments that combine to create a winning formula:

1. Pick the Right Business

Buffet is clear on the fact that not all businesses are created equal. The first step to success is to own, manage or work for the right business with the right economics working in your favour. To zero in on the right businesses look for those that tend to burn considerably less capital than they earn. This is usually because they produce a brand-name product that never has to change (e.g. Coca-Cola ) or because they provide a key service which gives them better profit margins that amounts to a durable competitive advantage.

2. Delegate Authority

If there is a single management skill one could pin on Buffett, it would be his willingness to delegate authority way beyond boundaries that most CEOs would be comfortable with. In his words, “We delegate almost to the point of abdication.” The norm of managers is to try and control as many events and people as possible. But micromanaging leads one to juggle too many tasks at once and the end result is neglect or lack of competence in undertaking many of these tasks.

3. Find A Manager With The Right Qualities

When picking managers, he seeks out people with an internal locus of control. These are people who are in control of themselves and their environment, who take responsibility for their failures and in the process learn from their mistakes. He also looks out for people who love what they do as these personalities end up going the extra mile and inspire others to do the same. He places emphasis on honesty too. As he puts it, “You don’t want to be in business with people who need a contract to be motivated to perform.” Another management trait Buffett values is cost consciousness as a way of life and not just when the business is failing. He determines this criteria by seeing how managers handle the seemingly little costs. He explains, “If managers aren’t disciplined on the little things, they will probably be undisciplined on the large things as well.” Lastly he looks for a manager who is a great investor, responsible for investing the firm’s money in people, products and new businesses with a long-term perspective in mind. (Buffett is a firm critic of a short-term focus as he believes it tends to make managers poor allocators of resources.)

4. Motivate Your Workforce

In this respect, Buffett is a student of the Dale Carnegie school that uses praise and criticism in a very specific way. His rule is simple: praise by name but criticise by category. As an example, he is quick to praise an individual banker but if he is unhappy with the banker, he criticizes the banking profession as a whole. And if he has to criticise someone personally, he makes it a point to praise the person first. It creates a sense of trust and the recipient is subsequently more likely to accept and act on constructive criticism as a result. When he wants something done, he frames it in such a manner that he speaks to the other person’s wants and needs and therefore gets rewarded with the appropriate response.

5. Buffett’s Managerial Axioms For Different Problems

“Leverage is very tempting and always leads to trouble.” Buffet is an old - school manager reluctant to use debt to improve earnings.

“Only in fairy tales are emperors told that they are naked.” This one pertains to the danger of managers surrounding themselves with sycophants. Buffet’s solution is to surround himself with as few people as possible and when he does, they are people with a great track record of making good calls when they are called on to do so.

“We rub our noses in mistakes of omission.” This relates to missed opportunities. Even the best managers miss opportunities, but they ask the hard questions as to why they missed them. This primes them to spot and seize a good opportunity the next time it turns up.

Source: Calibre, May 2011

Japan Tsunami and Malaysian markets

2011-03-16T17:14:00.007+08:00

It was the worst earthquake in over 100 years that hit JAPAN recently. Loss of precious and priceless lives, gone in a swoop of a wave the size of which one would never have imagined.

Our prayers for those who survived and are still trying to deal with the calamity.

Reconstruction cost is estimated to be in USD161billion!

How does it impact us in MALAYSIA you may ask. Some analysis reports are saying the impact is generally limited given that major ports in JAPAN and it industrial areas have been spared by the calamity.

However, some sectors will see benefits and some will need tremendous adjustments in corporate directives and policies.

The are some Winners and they include the Timber sector and to a lesser extent, Steel, as

these are raw materials used in reconstruction efforts.

The Losers will be sectors with products consumed by Japan such as O&G and Tourism/Aviation. Auto companies too could be impacted as many parts are still sourced from Japan.

Several stock broking houses are not so pessimistic on MALAYSIA - post JAPAN tsunami - and are maintaining a "Buy into Weakness" call on the Malaysian market.

Impact on Malaysia limited.

While the devastation in Japan appears very significant, with most of its ports and industries still intact, the impact on Malaysia and Malaysian corporates seems limited for now. A point to note - Japan is Malaysia’s 3rd largest export market and 2nd largest source of foreign investment.

Timber and steel could be winners.

With reconstruction efforts required, the timber and steel sectors could benefit from the Sendai earthquake. Timber in particular could see heightened demand given that many Japanese houses are constructed with the use of significant hardwood timber and Malaysia is still the world’s largest exporter of hardwood timber. Sarawakian timber boys such as WTK (Not Rated) and Ta Ann (Not Rated) have significant exposure to the Japanese housing market.

Autos, Aviation, O&G and Utilities among the Losers.

On the flip side, the devastation will likely put a dent in the tourism and travel industry for some time and therefore impact airlines flying to Japan.

Elsewhere, our Malaysian auto companies still import CBU kits as well as some CKD parts from Japan, and this could potentially lead to some delays for the auto companies. In O&G, we note that the price of oil dropped Friday as investors were worried that the slowdown in the Japanese economy would crimp demand for oil.

This in turn could hit sentiment in the short term. Finally, the closure of the nuclear plants could see greater demand for fossil fuel power generation such as from coal, which could then lead to prices escalating further.

Still advising a Buy into Weakness.

With greater clarity on the scope of devastation, perhaps there is still some short term weakness in the market and this could continue as an opportunity to Buy into Weakness, with year-end 1680 pts KLCI target intact.

So hang on to your investments and no need to panic yet.

BEST PRESERVER OF VALUE...GOLD!

2011-02-27T19:27:00.001+08:00

Salaam and God Blessing,

If you have been following the developments of Middle East crisis where a new rage for CHANGE in leadership has been growing more and more violent, then you should feel the concern of many other economist around the world.

Political turmoil often affects economic agendas and this will definitely translate to adverse affects to fiscal policies of many governments. Political turmoil in a region where most of the world's OIL and GAS is being produced has already seen its affects --- OIL prices has escalated again and has crossed the US$100 per barrel for the first time since JUNE 2008. Every time this happens, the "i" word gets much airtime as it becomes a topic of conversation and a great concern of many investors and government officials.

What is this "i" word?....Yup!....Inflation!
I covered this topic several week back in my posting.

We all know that inflation eats up on your savings and reduces the value of your money over time and therefore you'd be smart to try to find an investment instrument that best preserves its value and protects your money from its erosive effect.

GOLD....a four letter word in investing, has long been a favorite and the recent M-East turmoil and the unstable economic developments regionally has given rise to many investor rushing to BUY GOLD!

Read this article extracted from the dailies.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/27/nation/8150268&sec=nation

here are more of what FUND MANAGERS are saying about GOLD...

JIM ROGERS says..."75% of High-end Money Managers have never owned Gold.

Seventy-five per cent of the people had never owned gold, or silver. So you can see most people still do not own gold. For most people in the world gold is still an unknown entity.

During gold's hysterical phase, in 5 to 7 years, everyone will be buying the yellow metal"

I have just the right program for those interested to invest in GOLD.

This one has great elements:

PRINCIPLE GUARANTY
SYARIAH COMPLIANT
up to 24% per YEAR HIBAH return

Call me at 012 211 0000.

Not feeling the Inflation...? Wrongggg!!!!

2011-01-24T15:28:00.000+08:00

It is the dreaded word in financial planning..inflation!
A dirty, filthy word for those of us who are trying to protect our wealth.

You don't think much about it now if you look around the city with the sales every where and shopping galore that is distracting us...but the reality is.....INFLATION is creeping up!

The numbers in the US economy shows that food prices hit a record level last month and in fact it is the highest it has ever been since 1990. On the local front, CPI for December 2010 is 2.2%, up from 2.0% in November and just 0.6% in all of 2009. Please don't expect a reverse in these numbers for the January 2011 either because indications are strong that the upward trend will continue.

This is an important barometer for all of us to monitor because, 40% of household income goes to FOOD!...Yup! Makanan!

When you have pressure from increased cost of living, it takes a toll on your savings plans.

We will further be pressured by INFLATION as further reduction on fuel and food subsidies is expected to continue under the government rationalization plan. The price of petrol is expected to increase 10sen every six month...Scary, is it!?

What do we do!?!....Its time to review that spending and expenses list and perhaps a resetting of priorities to protect your BIG financial goals and objectives.

Ignoring this element will cost you dearly. At the same time, do not be too overly frighten by the dim prospects this blog carries as there are many alternatives and choices still available to protect your money.

You might want to consider GOLD!...

will share more in the next blog)...stay tune!

The concept of MSI...

2011-01-15T14:28:00.000+08:00

MULTIPLE SOURCE OF INCOME....that is what M.S.I. means. Some would call it multiple streams of income, either way it carries the same meaning.

It simply means having several sources of income from several different means, so that you never have to rely on ONE source (usually monthly salary) to supply you with all of your funding needs.

Should the unexpected happen. i.e. you lose your job or the company you work for closes down, that monthly income is NO longer available to pay off your monthly commitments. Tragedy!!! ...

How is it that we allow our self to be highly dependent one source of income whilst we are not in control of the fate of that company. The MSI behaves like a safety net against such events.But do not think of it as a safety net alone because most wealthy people DO NOT have monthly salaries as their main source of income, instead they have multiple, multiple and multiples MSIs...and this itself is their MAIN income.

If one source dries up, you’ll have others in place to ensure you are never completely without revenue or income coming in. It is a fabulous way of building and creating wealth.

There is NO limit as to how many one is recommended to have.

Picture this, when you have multiple streams of income that is steady and fluid, it will provide for a better lifestyle. That extra cashflow it generates will permit for better savings program therefore securing your financial future, either it be for retirement or your children education or that dream holiday!

Sounds fantastic does it...well it is and it works for some of the current riches people in the world. It is a secret so simple to comprehend but yet many struggle to adopt. The trick is to find the right "source" or "stream"

Read on further...

The internet has made it possible even for ordinary people to acquire wealth. They say, "Never put your eggs in one basket." This is true when considering the current economic conditions.

"money coming our from your finger tips"

There are many available opportunities online to help you make money and get you closer to your dream goals. It has become easier for anyone today as compared to the past. As an internet marketer, it would be wise to grab opportunities that will bring you multiple streams of income.

One of the ways to create multiple streams of income is joining different affiliate marketing programs either in the same or different niches. What is important is to make money selling products from different companies.

Do bear in mind that a product you promote may be good today, but only to find that tomorrow it is no more successful in the market. It is possible that a company that pays you huge commissions today, but runs out of business tomorrow. It would really be a sorry situation for thousands of some online marketers. That is where having multiple streams of income come in.Use different sources to make money. By so doing, you will be safe from unknown future adverse circumstances.

In order to make this easy, just set up your own website or blog to which you will send traffic that will end up converting to customers. This is not a hard thing to do as there are an ocean of ways and sites you can learn the skills of doing it. Once you have mastered the skills, you will begin to enjoy your "multiple streams of income".

Spend time to search the net for the best business model for your MSI ..
(Psst: I have my own favorite!...wanna know how to make USD3000 a week? from just clicking the net and not selling anything?....call me!)

You can also be part of a joint venture to create multiple streams of income. What happens in this case is that different internet marketers put their talents and skills to make money. The advantage of such a venture is that you continue doing what you enjoy and where you are not strong, other marketers come in. As a result you earn multiple streams of income.

I hope this article will start you to consider the concept of multiple streams of income.

This is important for the future of your life and business...

T.I.P.S - Take Interest in your Personal Success!

2011-01-12T16:06:00.001+08:00

Salaam and Good Blessings,

We habitually take things for granted, sometimes just too much more than necessary, and often pay the price for this delayed attention.

It often takes a painful and at times shocking event to occur to make us realize that we have not done enough to protect our goals. We would be lucky if such painful event don't befall upon us but instead, it is the misfortunes of others that we draw our life lessons from. We blow a sigh of relief and hope again that we will be equally lucky to just be an observer and not the main character of the next painful event.

The first instance of taking things for granted is already a grave mistake, but the next (bigger) mistake is - (after having known a particular fact)...we DONT respond to it completely!...let alone immediately!

Here is the cycle...you take something (or some issue) for granted, then something happens, (either by way of your own misfortune or that of others) and as a result, you get reminded. Then you begin your emotional cycle of fear, anger and pain...and then there is a sense of confusion and indecision. This drags you further, spinning and spinning as you try to grasp for "air" to retain normality.

Just as soon as that emotional cycle subside, you are back to point zero again - you K.I.V the issue and take it for granted and HOPE you don't have to be reminded again!...FAMILIAR?!! Yes, pretty much huh?

Right about the time when the emotional cycle begins is actually the best time to react and make a responsive decision to change! This is not professing to react under duress or stress, which is bad, but it is really during this time that your " REAL" passion and interest about your own personal success comes into play.

The REAL emotions involved when you are Taking Interest in your Personal Success (TIPS) is at its purest and you will be completely guided by it. It is during this time you make your genuine decision about your NEED to secure your future and having decided upon it, you will have a feel good factor last a long time.

Frankly speaking, this is not far off from a scenario when you are "invited" to purchase that 70% OFF item at your favorite shopping mall - it draws upon your emotion too. Except the difference is...it was not drawn by your REAL emotion for T.I.P.S. It was playing on your sense of "WANT"....an illusion create for you, and it often does NOT carry a long period of "FEEL GOOD" after the purchase. (I know some of you will debate about this one...ya! ya!...a pack of cigarettes has a looooong feel good factor! I'll take that up in another posting)

We all should learn from our past mistakes, (and also from other peoples too) and should continue with the LEARNING process. Events happen to jolt us off our seats and remind us that we need to do this or that! Information that come our way is for us to digest it, to improve our knowledge and our own personal standing.

In one of his book called GOLDEN NUGGETS, Dwight Anthony, (a renown financial advisor based in the US) shared one of his many Financial Planning tips - "On Going Learning."

He explains that we often look at learning in a frozen image of classrooms, schools, colleges, universities and the academic institutions. As a Financial Freedom Chaser, we must commit ourselves to lifetime learning. but an elevated form of "learning". LEARN from ourselves and LEARN from others...the mistake makers and the success rollers alike have plenty to share!

Pick up concepts of LAWS of ATTRACTIONS, The FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY, VISUALIZATON and the ART OF GOAL SETTING and HITTING THE TARGET! These things they don't teach you in Universities.

REMEMBER....KNOWLEDGE is power...but APPLIED KNOWLEDGE is empowering!

Till next time....Salaam

PRESS RELEASE - Public Mutual declares distributions for 3 funds

2011-01-04T21:58:00.001+08:00

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual, declares distributions for
three of its funds. The total gross distributions declared for the financial year ending
31 December 2010 are as follows:

Funds Gross Distribution / Unit
Public Savings Fund   -   9.00 sen per unit

Public Focus Select Fund   -   2.00 sen per unit

Public Islamic Enhanced Bond Fund   -   3.00 sen per unit

Public Mutual’s Chief Executive Officer Ms. Yeoh Kim Hong is pleased that all the
above funds have delivered respectable returns to its investors. She said, “Public
Savings Fund and Public Focus Select Fund have recorded one-year double-digit
returns of 17.94% and 25.77% respectively for the period ended 3 December 2010
(Source: Lipper, 13 December 2010).

Both funds are open for EPF Members Investment Scheme.”

Launched in 1981, Public Savings Fund is the company’s maiden fund. The fund aims
to achieve long-term capital appreciation and at the same time produce a reasonable
level of income. Public Focus Select Fund, which was launched in 2004, aims to
achieve capital growth through investments in medium-sized companies in terms of
market capitalisation from diversified economic sectors.

Meanwhile, Public Islamic Enhanced Bond Fund which was launched in 2006,
recorded a one-year return of 4.88% for the same period. As a Shariah-compliant
bond fund, it seeks to provide a combination of annual income and modest capital
growth primarily through a portfolio allocation across Islamic debt securities and
equities that comply with Shariah requirements.

All the above funds are distributed by Public Mutual unit trust consultants.

Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 84 funds under
management. It has over 2,380,000 account holders and as at 30 November 2010, the
total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM40.2 billion.

What makes you happy.

2010-12-02T10:32:00.000+08:00

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

2010-11-11T11:55:00.000+08:00

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

2010-10-18T16:26:00.001+08:00

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

2010-09-15T15:11:00.001+08:00

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

2010-07-05T10:21:00.000+08:00

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...

2010-05-14T19:54:00.003+08:00

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..

2010-04-12T11:16:00.002+08:00

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...

2010-02-01T15:39:00.000+08:00

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

2010-01-25T17:05:00.000+08:00

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

2010-01-18T19:56:00.000+08:00

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?

2010-01-11T12:37:00.001+08:00

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...!

2010-01-04T14:05:00.002+08:00

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!....

Another form of wealth...

2009-09-02T23:46:00.004+08:00

Its common to associate wealth with material items and quantity of things we possess. My professional advice generally relates to this sort of wealth management. But today I'd like to share a thought about another kind of wealth - the wealth of a true friendship!

Like material wealth this sort of wealth also requires "management" and "protection" and best if "distributed" to especially those we care. But it has great impact if shared with those we don't know too!

Sadly it also often taken for granted and easily neglected. It possesses exponential growth potential and its affect is highly contagious if managed with great care and sincerity. Its benchmark is often the degree of happy feelings one obtains when one surrounds oneself with this wealth.

To invest in this type of wealth requires no minimum entry fee but merely basic character possession involving genuine sincerity and integrity. As an added measure, a commitment to be ever ready to extend emotional and stress relieving support would improve ones value of this wealth.

Most people are naturally talented to manage this wealth but some take them for granted too often that they need to be reminded of this in born skills.

Even the best of them face hardships during the lifetime of managing this wealth. Do expect shaky episodes of dips and bumps in the form of betrayal and back stabs. Occasionally these events happen unintentionally as some may confess in defence of themselves but nevertheless when it does occur, one will further be exposed to the true value and virtues of this wealth in the form of acceptance and forgiveness. Sometimes, too severe is the damage that it will require major asset relocation and could also involve switching of managers, whether permanent or temporary.

It is not a principal guaranteed investment and it is hardly acceptable as a collateralized asset. In fact as a collaterized asset, this form of wealth immediately loses its value.

Its non-transferable to a different asset class but share-able within the same asset category.

The beauty of this form of wealth is that, when and if it fully extends its potential, it has a lasting effect to those that possess it. Its the only form of wealth that can be passed infinitely from one mortal to another irrespective of color or creed, young or old.

No amount of money in this world can buy it. In fact if it ever can be bought with money...then it is not TRUE FRIENDSHIP!

My dearest friend I.F.A. - - - May ALLAH Bless you with HIS DIVINE LOVE and PROTECTION. I had a hard time when visiting you recently. I could not hold my feelings as I choked when we spoke about you. Seeing you in your condition right now aches me so much but I accept that ALLAH knows better than any one of us and I know this for sure...HIS DIVINE ATTENTION is upon you right now!

Barakallahu fi ka ya akhi....

Ramadhan is here...

2009-08-22T17:23:00.012+08:00

Salaam and Good Blessing...
Its no secret that I have not blogged in ages. Excuse for that? Busy...yes seriously I was!

I couldn't fit a moment to write, especially with a long list of TTD (things to do).

Anyway...today is first day of Ramadhan and as it is every year, MUSLIMS around the world will fast from dawn till dusk ....(and stuff themselves again within nightfall and before dawn breaks.)

Among the main purpose of fasting is to experience the hunger sufferings of the poor and fakirs and to appreciate their struggles while we reflect upon the many blessings we enjoy and being blessed with things we often take for granted.

A sad note though, I feel the puasa ritual has just turned into another religious ritual for most MUSLIM (well at least in KL that i observe). Most will abstain from eating and drinking only, and that's just it....when in fact there is more to it than that. Idle talk and idle activity remains unchanged during this holy month and in fact has increased even more because to fill the vacuum of time left from the NO eating and NO drinking activity during the day.

Do you ever wonder if one family actually spends less ($) during RAMADHAN or spend more? One would expect a decrease in spending yes?..because one does not need the regular morning tosai, roti canai and teh tarik for breakfast and there is no lunch budget too. Its only that one meal a day during break fast! Theoretically yes...you should spend less!

For most of us the reality is not quite so...especially if you are the 'buka kat luar" type of a person then you can appreciate my point that eating at restaurants or hotels (especially) is so mahal gila!!!!...not less then RM44 per head...then there is that ++ lak lagi!

Even at gerai too they will charge the all-you-can-eat price and it's not less than RM25...Thats just for buka...sahur lagi tak kira!

During normal non fasting month, I don't think many people spend more than RM25 ringgit for a decent whole days meal, yes?

And then there is the BAZAAR RAMADHAN which offers a lavish spread of kuih muih and lauk pauk to feast the eyes and tempt the hungry stomach and crack the wallet. The tendency is often to buy what we see and what looks nice. But the thing is, just a couple of hours before breakfast, every thing in front of you will look sumptuous and delicious! Its common that most would end up, stopping at every stall they past and buy a little of this and that.

The problem is, not only will this eye-candy spending will cause you to spend more than you need as the amount easily adds up but when you get home and upon the first hearing of ALLLAAAHU AKBAR!.....you take the first bite...then ...Alamak...tawar nye! or masin nye! or keras nye!..ini cucur badak ke...kuku badak?!?

Okay, I agree not everything at the bazaar is that bad...surely you must concur with me that often, just one bite of anything you eat during break fast will be sufficient!...after that the margin of utility drops very fast and soon your stomach just can't take much more. Before you know it, you will seat in your chair wondering...sape lak nak makan yang lebih ni!

IF you wish to avoid wasteful spending during RAMADHAN, remember these points:

Dont go to find your food less than 2 hours before buka, this is when you are most vulnerable...it the same as "Dont buy groceries on an empty stomach."
Buy the items you need for buka way ahead of time, best if you have a schedule
Plan your buka meals a day before.
Home cook meal
lagi best, buka je kat surau..lepas tu tapau yang mana tak habis for sahur!

Selamat berbuka!

13 is a good number!

2009-08-02T16:00:00.017+08:00

Salam and Good Blessing,

For most people the number 13 may represent bad luck or carry negative connotations...but the number 13 should really be a good number for me, although most people know my favorite number in 9!

yesterday, i chanced upon this thought of the number 13 and how it represents my family..i'll explain that later.

last night I was given the honor to arrange the logistic requirements for a middle eastern family from his apartment in taman seputih to kompleks yayasan aljenderami... his entourage was 23 people many...7 males, 14 females and 3 kids. yesterday just happen to be a bad day to arrange for public transport because protesters of ISA dominated the streets. but Alhamdullillah i managed to get 5 cabs ready to ferry them to our destination at the promised time (5pm) ...but this family was not ready at this time and after waiting more than half an hour...all 5 cabs left!...aduh!...dah la susah nak dapat taxi!

I had to practically beg the taxi operators to send another batch and by this time it was already 6 pm...nasib baik after much negotiating, dapat 3 taxi van to commit...but getting through the clogged traffic was not easy...the 3 cabs came around to their pick up points 30 minutes apart...when they finally moved it was already 745pm..from seputeh to kajang tol was about 30 minutes drive...and when we finally transferred them into YAJ transport vehicles...it was already 845 and almost half of the MAULID event at YAJ has already past...but we headed there anyway.

In the van, my guest from Mekah and I started small talk and he asked me about my family and how many children I have. and stuffs..i reciprocated his good intentions by asking him the same...his reply really shouldn't shock me but still, I had to reset my thoughts anyway...

"Alhamdulillah, this wife over here I have 5 children..." he said, it was obvious to me then he has more than one...(wife that is!)

some how this helped explain why we couldn't keep on time the appointment with the first 5 cabs.

i didnt continue to ask him further like who is who in the transport vehicles...i left it at that. He is a very nice man and seemed a caring and responsible family person...I am honored to have met him.

so what has the number 13 got to do with this weeks blog you may ask..???

i am very blessed with my 1 wife and 3 kids...its enough for me..ALHAMDULLILAH...am not saying it is wrong for others who are 2 and 9...or maybe 3 and 11 or 4 and 25!!!...but i love my 13!

...my 1 and 3...we always put our best foot forward!

2009-07-24T10:04:00.003+08:00

Salam and Good Blessing...
I received an email which contained excepts from an interview with President O on the topic of fatherhood. It's nice to know that there are still good fathers in this world and lets hope many more fathers out there can emulate and advocate some of President O's thoughts and principles...(yours truly included!) ... but of course my role model is not just limited to Mr. President!

Yea I know, this has nothing to do with FP, you may wonder...but hey!..I did say I would keep this blog light didnt I? ... so shush you lips, do the Helen Keller and ... spend time with your kids! ... I love you guys Z, D and Dz!

President's Obama's thoughts on Fatherhood

On the pressure to be perfect.
...I've made mistakes as a parent, and I'm sure I will make plenty more. There have been days when the demands of work have taken me from my duties as a father and I’ve missed some moments in my daughters’ lives that I’ll never get back. So I’ve been far from perfect.

But in the end, it’s not about being perfect. It’s not always about succeeding; but it’s about always trying. And that's something everybody can do. It’s about showing up and sticking with it; and going back at it when you mess up; and letting your kids know -- not just with words, but with deeds -- that you love them and that you're always -- they're always your first priority.

On the influence a father has.
A lot of folks know I love playing basketball. But it was my father who gave me my first basketball. Even though he wasn't a part of my life, in the few weeks that I was with him, he gave me a basketball...A lot of folks know I love jazz. It turns out he took me to my first jazz concert. I didn't remember this until later on in life, but just that imprint is powerful. And imagine if that's sustained every day. And especially, young men, when they hit the teenage years, to have somebody there who is there to steady them and to provide them with some guidance, that makes all the difference in the world.

On the sacrifices fathers make.
And what it does mean is, is that fathers sometimes have to give up stuff that they'd like to do instead, like just sit there and watch Sportscenter....I like watching the highlights -- but sometimes instead of watching the third, fourth, fifth time Sportscenter, I just watch it once so that I can then spend time with the girls -- because they don't like watching basketball that much.

[Being a father] isn't an obligation. This is a privilege to be a father.

On gaining your kids' respect.
...You can't use anything as an excuse not to be involved with your children. Because kids -- they won't judge you based on whether you're wealthy or poor. They will judge you if you are abusive to their mother. They will judge you in terms of you not showing up when they need you. That's what makes a difference. And kids will respect their fathers if their fathers are showing kindness and are modeling -- that they're working hard and trying to do what's right for their families.

On balancing work and family and deciding to run for President.
...This was a joint decision -- was could our family handle it? And frankly, if it hadn't been for Michelle's extraordinary strength and commitment, I could not have done it and would not have done it. Now, I want to emphasize we are luckier than most; we've got more resources than most...but it was still a very difficult decision.

The person who suffered the most was me, because I would be calling from God knows where and they'd be having fun and laughing and kids don't talk on the phone that well. So I'd be, "Sasha, how was your day?" "Fine." "What did you do?" "Nothing." You guys have had those conversations.

On getting the skills you need and making a difference.
I’ve made my share of mistakes; I've had to ask a lot of questions.But I've also learned from men that I admire.

And we need dads -- but also men who aren’t dads -- to make this kind of commitment not just in their own homes to their own families, but to the many young people out there who aren’t lucky enough to have responsible adults in their lives. We need committed, compassionate men to serve as mentors and tutors, and big brothers and foster parents. Even if it’s just for a couple hours a week of shooting hoops, or helping with homework, or just talking about what’s going on in that young person's life. Even the smallest moments can end up having an enormous impact, a lasting impact on a child’s life.

How a Financial Planner can help you

2009-07-18T23:52:00.004+08:00

Offer personalized service - We each have different financial goals and objectives. Your FP will be able to personally guide you though the processes of attaining these objectives that meets your specialized needs.

Act as a financial coach - Your FP is trained to listen and understand your financial concerns. He/she will be able to explain to you the strategies and concepts related to your financial objectives.

Help conceptualize your goals - Your FP can clearly define your financial goals and prioritize them for you and therefore eliminate any confusion arising from unclear and vague goals.

Road map to achieve your financial goals - a financial planner can design a comprehensive and clear plan to ensure that you reach your financial goals.

Selection of correct financial tools - a financial planner will be able to guide you in selecting the best financial tools that suits your investment profile and objectives therefore reduce the risk of you selecting the wrong instruments while simultaneously keeping you better informed to make the best decision.

Proactive management - a financial planner with a thorough understanding of your investment objectives can bring opportunities to your attention. He can keep you abreast of the financial environments that may affect your plans and make recommendations to adjust them.

END

2009-07-16T18:03:00.003+08:00

Salam and Good Blessings,
Welcome to my blog. At this platform I hope to share with you valuable information and tips about accumulating and managing wealth. I will also cover aspects of wealth protection and distribution which I am sure you will find it most useful. But...it may not all be about boring numbers and financial jargons, I may add some unrelated topics just to keep it fun and light...so, come around often and you may learn a thing or two.

...I am rara and I am your WEALTH CONSULTANT!