Towards Financial Freedom

Happy Chinese New Year & Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2012-01-26T10:11:00.002+08:00

This is the beginning of a new lunar year, a "Water Dragon" year, do you all have your own financial planning yet? Although the financial planning series here is not updated for quite some time, it's still worthwhile to reread the series and check if you are going towards financial freedom. If you are still not clear about how to plan your financial, you may go through the financial planning series here again, and set your goals as well as your financial planning.

1) What is Financial Planning?

2) Some tools to help assessing our financial status

3) How to set financial goals effectively?

4) Setting Financial Goals

5) Start the Financial Plan – Pay Off the Debt

6) Is Emergency Fund Important?

7) Is Insurance Important?

If you have any question about financial planning, you may leave a message here. We can discuss and improve ourselves together. Lastly, wishes all of you a very Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai! May the new year bring you abundant of fortune and happiness.

How to become a successful financial advisor?

2011-10-06T15:56:00.007+08:00

In the previous post, I have mentioned that the Personal Money in June (Issue #118) has an article about how to become a good financial advisor and I wish to share it here. Recently, I am quite busy, so delay the sharing until now.

These are the five criteria to become a successful financial advisor:

1. Commit to lifelong learning

Financial planners need to be committed to continuous learning in a fast-changing business environment. Planners need to keep updated on the technical knowledge related to different aspects of financial planning, and then translate what you have learnt into practice. Only an educated financial planner can educate his client. After doing the research, he can then share it with their clients. A good financial planner will be able to help clients be discerning with the burgeoning choices of financial products in the market. Financial planners can stay competitive by staying relevant. Keep up to date with news and global events.

2. Define your service.

Planners need to understand what they are trying to accomplish from the financial planning practice. Thus, financial planners should decide whether they want to be generalists capable of providing a comprehensive financial planning plan or specialists who focus on one area of financial planning. Financial planners should avoid over-promising and under-delivering. Also, invest in supporting systems and tools, the planner needs a robust process to assess the risk the client is willing and able to take.

3. Be transparent.

It is critical for consumers to know what they are paying for and how they are paying for it. Be as transparent as possible when discussing compensation for the financial plan and/or advice. Financial planning is a process of setting objectives, assessing assets and resources, estimating future financial needs, and making plans to achieve certain goals. To better educate his clients, it is advantageous for the planner to explain the entire financial-planning process. This helps them understand why they should pay you.

4. Build values and skills.

The skills required in establishing a relationship, identifying clients’ needs, presenting strategies and communicating them are necessary soft skills that a financial planner should have. To create trust, the financial planner has to have integrity and always out the clients’ interest first. To be respected, planners need to uphold the reputation of the profession at all times. To establish a good relationship with clients, update them frequently.

5. Aim to minimize diversions and errors.

Planners need to have a logical and defensible position for every assumption they take. Each assumption should be documented. Conduct “what-if” analyses and scenario testing to prepare for any eventuality. Planners should not paint a rosy picture by selecting a particular time frame. Instead, select different start and end points, and test them out. By preparing different scenarios, the planner will be able to demonstrate and clarify the trade-offs and propose options to close any gaps and create a buffer against unforeseen circumstances. Most importantly, it is to remind the clients that a financial plan is not static.

Even if you are not a financial advisor, you may look at your financial advisor/planner if he/she has the criteria above.

Enjoy your financial planning journey!

What are the trademarks of a good financial adviser?

2011-07-04T19:26:00.000+08:00

In the Personal Money June 2011 (Issue #118), there is a letter in the Question of the Month written by me. The topic of the month is “What are the trademarks of a good financial adviser?”

Here is the letter that I submit and be published in the issue:

“A good financial adviser is not only providing financial advice to customers, but sharing the knowledge and awareness of financial planning with the customers. To be successful in providing financial advice, advisers need to ensure the customers having same thought and relevant knowledge to agree and be confident on what the advisers recommend. Only when both parties are aligned, the financial plan can be executed smoothly. Besides, a good financial adviser should understand and recommend based on the customers' needs and situation, but not keep promoting the same products to every customer, which gives better commission to the advisers. Review periodically on the customers' portfolio is needed to align the portfolio with the bearable risk level.”

The said issue of the Personal Money also has an article about good financial advisers. I will share the article with you in next post. Please stay tuned!

1Pengguna.com – 1 Pengguna Portal, a smart consumer portal

2011-06-20T23:25:00.002+08:00

Recently, our government has launched a 1Pengguna.com portal (http://www.1pengguna.com/) , which is used to compare all the goods price of different stores. In this high inflation era, this is a good move of government by creating this online portal for rakyat to compare the consumer product price, so that we can choose the right store to buy at cheapest price.

I have surfed the portal, which idea is really good. It allows us to know all the price of the goods sold in different stores, including convenient store, mini market, super market and hypermarket. With all these information online, we can obtain these by just clicking on the mouse, without going to each of the stores to compare the price. For example, if you are going to hold a small gathering, and need to buy some soft drinks. You can always go to this website to check which store selling the soft drinks at the cheapest price. By having this, you can go to the particular store directly to buy the soft drinks without spending petrol for going to few stores to compare price.

However, there are a lot of improvements need to be done in this website. Ignoring the security loophole of the website, there are still a lot of improvements need to be done in terms of features and functions. The main problem of this website is, the query procedure is too complicated, where we need to click for many selections to compare the prices. There are limited varieties of goods and stores as well. To make this website to be more successful, the government should include all the hypermarkets, such as Tesco and Giant. We wish that the government can improve in these so that more people can benefit from the website, and we can save from the consumer products.

We, as the consumers, should make use of this website to reduce our expenditure by being a smart consumer. No doubt, this is a good news for the consumers to fight with the rising cost of living.

Should we withdraw EPF to invest in unit trust funds?

2011-05-25T23:31:00.000+08:00

Referring to the previous article regarding EPF announcing 5.8% dividend, we continue to discuss about should we maximize the return of our EPF before we are age 55. Normally, we are not allowed to withdraw our EPF before 55, and EPF will give dividend to fight the inflation, in order to ensure we have more retirement fund in future.

However, the fact shows that our EPF is no longer sufficient for our retirement life and most of us still need to work after age 55. There is example that 70% of our EPF fund will be finished by us in 3 year after we retire. Thus, we should not solely depend on EPF dividend, but have to work out something to maximize our EPF fund.

Let me briefly explain about our EPF account structure and conditions of withdrawing EPF for investment. We have 2 accounts in our EPF, which account 1 contributes 70% and account 2 contributes 30%. It means that our EPF payable (together with employer) will be divided into two portions, 70% credited into account 1 and 30% credited into account 2. Normally, we can withdraw from account 2 for the purposes such as, house downpayment, housing loan payment, tertiary education fee and so forth. Account 1 is mainly for our retirement fund, which we only can withdraw after age 55. Anyhow, we are allowed to withdraw from this account 1 for unit trust investment with some conditions.

What are the conditions? The first condition is, you need to have a certain amount of money in your EPF account 1 to be able to withdraw for investment. This is varied based on your age. Normally, the amount you can withdraw each time will be less than 15% of your total amount of account 1. This condition avoids us from withdrawing too much for investment, as there is always risk in investment. Besides, we are only allowed to withdraw once every quarter for unit trust investment. For example, you withdraw an amount for investment today, your next withdrawal must be 3 months after today.

What is the benefit to withdraw EPF for unit trust fund investment?

1. Limitation on the investment amount
EPF limits the withdrawal amount according to our age and account 1 balance. This is to avoid investors from a big lump sum investment at the wrong market timing. A big lump sum investment can easily trap investors when the market is turning down.

2. Limitation on the withdrawal
EPF only allows us to withdraw once every quarter and make sure we are not investing too frequent. Invest once every 3 months in the long term can average our buying price. This is the Dollar Cost Averaging concept, where we can lower down our buying price during the market downturn. This method cannot maximize our return, but to average our buying price, where we can breakeven faster once market recovers from bad time.

3. Long investment horizon
Account 1 can be only withdrawn at age 55. For investors who are in the range of age 20-40, we have a very long time horizon to invest using our EPF. Investing periodically in long term definitely can lower the risk exposure of our investment, as market is going upward trend in long term. Time is a very important factor in investment, as investment can grow bigger and faster during long term. By having sufficient time, we can always wait for the good time to leave the market and get back cash.

4. Better feelings
Unit trust funds price is moving according to the volatility of the stock market. The volatility is always causing investors to be in greedy or scary mode. In my experience, EPF investors are steadier than cash investors when market is turning down. The main factor should be EPF investors will not feel the pain as the money is not coming out from their pocket, but from their EPF account, which they are aware that they cannot touch this money before age 55. Normally, they will continue the EPF investment every quarter regardless of the market movement. During low market, they always buy in more units with same withdrawal amount. Once the market is recovering, they start to earn positive return. In contrast, cash investors normally are very alert about the market movement. They will stop topping up when the market is turning down to wait for the best timing to top up. In fact, they always miss out the best timing, as best time will only be realized when it was past. Cash investors normally wait till the market recover to a certain level, only they will continue to invest. They always miss out to buy more units during low price. When market is recovering, they are hoping their investment to breakeven and they always invest again when their investment breakeven. Again, they buy the units at higher price. At the same time, the EPF investors are already earning positive return when cash investors waiting for breakeven.

5. Lower service charge
This is not a very significant benefit, but it is still lower than cash investment. EPF investment service charge is 3% and cash investment service charge normally is 5.5%.

After all these pros above, are there any cons that we should take into consideration? Yes, this is for sure. Unit trust fund investment is an investment scheme with risks. Although long term periodically investing can lower down the risk exposure, it still cannot eliminate the risk of investment. When looking at the return, there is difference between EPF investment and cash investment. For cash investment, we are earning if there is positive return, but this is not the case for EPF investment. EPF will give dividend every year to our EPF fund, thus our EPF investment return must be able to beat this dividend rate. If our return from the investment is less than the EPF dividend, we are considered losing. This is the opportunity cost.

At last, we are reminded that this EPF investment will be credited back into your account 1 after you repurchase your funds. Investors are not able to get this in cash, as this is our retirement fund in future.

Happy Investing!!!

EPF announces distribution of 5.80% for YE2010

2011-03-02T20:33:00.001+08:00

In year 2010, the local stock market has a bull run and the KLCI is approaching to break the historical peak level at the end of year 2010. The KLCI closed at 1518.91 points on the last day of year 2010. In Jan 2011, the KLCI has broken the historical peak level. As a result, EPF announces that they have earned from the bullish market in year 2011, and the distribution of year 2010 is 0.15% higher than the previous year, from 5.65% increase to 5.80%.

Is this distribution rate satisfied the people? Comparing to the low Fixed Deposit interest rate of 3% now, this 5.80% distribution is considered good. Moreover, the BLR now is not as high as past. However, it is a fact that our EPF is no longer enough for our retirement in future, whereby most of the people spend 70% of their EPF within 3 years after they retire. So, there is a need for us to maximize our EPF in order to have more retirement fund in future.

Time is an important factor in investment. A long term investment with the compound effect will bring a significant return to us. Most of us still have 20-30 years to be retired, so we should utilize this period of time to maximize our EPF fund. It a wise choice to consider investing our EPF into unit trust funds to maximize our EPF fund, so that we will have more fund for your retirement life.

The table below shows the return in year 2010 of all the EPF approved unit trust funds from Public Mutual:

I will share my opinion on why we should withdraw EPF to invest in unit trust funds soon…

Happy Chinese New Year & Gong Xi Fatt Chai!!!

2011-02-08T15:18:00.001+08:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR & GONG XI FATT CHAI to all the readers of my blog. It is quite some time that I never update my blog, and now is the time for me to update this more frequent again.

Earlier I have shared few posts about the personal financial planning, which you can see the links of the complete series at the right pane, and I will continue on this to complete the whole personal financial planning series. The next topic of this personal financial planning talk is Types of Investment Tools. Please stay tune for the sharing soon.

In every new year, we will feel that the goods and services in the market are rising in price, and we will have our bonus or salary increment. How we can overcome the price rising with our current bonus and salary increment? How we should plan for our future financially? Now is the time for us to think about this. Let’s us plan our finance wisely and work towards financial freedom.

Again, wish all of you a very Happy Chinese New Year and a very Happy Investing Year!

EPF announce 5.65% dividend for 2009

2010-03-05T22:26:00.002+08:00

As the share market is going up since early of year 2009, most of the stocks have gained during the last year. EPF announces 5.65% of dividend for year 2009, which is 1.15% higher than year 2008. Year 2008 is a bad year for share market, where there was economy crisis, especially the subprime mortgage crisis in western countries.

Looking back at the last 10 years, what is the dividend rate announced by EPF???

2009 - 5.65%

2008 - 4.5%

2007 - 5.80%

2006 - 5.15%

2005 - 5.00%

2004 - 4.75%

2003 - 4.50%

2002 - 4.25%

2001 - 5.00%

2000 - 6.00%

From the trend, EPF is no longer announcing dividend rate which is higher than 6% for the past 10 years, and I believe they will not annouce a dividend higher than that in recent years. (year 2006-2007 is a very bullish year in share market)

So, be aware of this, and think about our future. EPF is no longer enough for our retirement fund, and we need to figure out some other channels to prepare for our future retirement fund. Investing in unit trust funds, stock market as well as properties will be a wiser choice for us to accumulate more wealth.

Besides, you may consider to invest using our EPF as well...just find out the best way of your own.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR & GONG XI FA CAI

2010-02-14T00:33:00.002+08:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR & GONG XI FA CAI to all of you!!!

Wish you all that your dream will come true soon and have a prosperous tiger year...

Plan ahead your financial plan at the beginning of the year to make sure your financial goal can be achieved.

I have quite some time write nothing on this blog, but in the new year, I will continue to write and share with you all about my view and experience in personal financial planning and investment. So, keep your eye on this blog and feedback or discuss with me through the comments.

Again, wish you all have a happy and prosperous CHINESE NEW YEAR!!! GONG XI FA CAI!!!

2010 Malaysia Budget

2009-10-23T17:10:00.005+08:00

Malaysia Prime Minister is delivering Malaysia Budget of year 2010 in Parliment today.

Below are some highlights which related to personal financial planning:

1. Personal Income Tax reduce 1%.

2. Broadband subscribers can get tax relief up to RM500 a year during year 2010-2012.

3. Personal expenses tax relief increase to RM9000 from RM8000.

4. Service Tax of RM50 will be imposed by Jan 2010 to each of the principal credit card, charge card including free card. RM25 will be imposed for supplementary card.

5. Tax relief of EPF and Life insurance increases to RM7000 from RM6000.

6. RM3billion of sukuk 1Malaysia will be issued to Malaysian of 21 year old and above, 3 year maturity with 5% return per annum.

7. Government to look into micro insurance, takaful coverage. Premiums from as low as RM20 per month, coverage from RM10,000 to RM20,000.

8. Government to impose 5% tax on gains from disposal of real property from Jan 1, 2010. However,it will be retained for gifts between parent and child, husband and wife, grandparent and grandchild. This tax exemption will also be given on disposal of residential property once in a lifetime.

9. Government to launch scheme for EPF contributors to use current, future savings in Account Two to get higher financing to buy higher value house or additional houses.

10. 1Malaysia retirement scheme for self-employed, run by EPF. For every RM100 contribution, government to contribute 5%, maximum RM60.

Public Bank announce 2Q Financial Report of FY2009

2009-08-09T22:55:00.003+08:00

Public Bank, PBBANK (Stock Quote 1295) has announced the 2nd quarter financial report for financial year 2009. These are the few key points of the report:

• The Group achieved a pre-tax profit of RM1,564.7 million and net profit attributable to equity holders of RM1,200 million, which represented a decrease of 11.2% and 8.5% respectively from the previous corresponding half year, due to a one-off goodwill payment of RM200 million received from ING.
• Excluding the one-off ING goodwill, the underlying operating pre-tax profit and net profit attributable to equity holders have actually improved by RM2.5 million, or 0.2%, and RM34.4 million, or 3.0%, respectively.
• The Group’s net interest and financing income continued to show a growth of 8.7% as compared to the previous corresponding half year, despite the negative impact of the drops in overnight policy rate by BNM from 3.5% to 2.0%.
• The Group’s asset quality continued to improve with its gross non-performing loan (NPL) balance decreasing by RM10.6 million to RM1.21 billion as at 30 June 2009. The Group’s net NPL ratio further improved to 0.80% from 0.93% a year ago.
• Public Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of RM1,174.1 million for the financial half year ended 30 June 2009 and was lower than the pre-tax profit of RM1,525.5 million achieved in the previous corresponding half year.
• Pre-tax profit contribution from the Group’s overseas operations decreased by RM64.5 million or 31.8% from the previous corresponding half year to RM138.3 million.
• For the 2nd quarter ended 30 June 2009, the Group registered a pre-tax profit of RM819.8 million, an improvement of RM28.2 million or 3.6% as compared to the previous corresponding quarter.
• The EPS for the 2nd quarter remains at 17.7 cent compared to previous corresponding quarter. The EPS for the half financial year ended 30 June 2009 has decreased to 35.1 cent compared to 39.1 cent in the previous corresponding half year.
• The Net assets per share is RM2.99.
• Total assets is RM204,038 million and total liabilities is RM193,004 million.
• Interim dividend of 30 cent less 25% tax is declared.

Personal view:
1. Public Bank NPL is improving, despite of the current economy crisis. This shows that Public Bank approves the loan application with extra carefulness.
2. Public Bank oversea operations are facing decrease of revenue as well as profit, which is a great challenge for the management.
3. By having half year EPS of 35.1 cent, we assume the EPS is same for the 2nd half, the total EPS is 70.2 cent. With the current share price RM9.96, the PE is 14.19.

Previous Quarterly Financial Report

Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia (AS 1Malaysia) is Launched!

2009-07-31T23:24:00.001+08:00

Our Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib announces that there will be another funds being launched and managed by PNB (Permodalan Nasional Berhad) during his 100th day as Prime Minister. The fund is called Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia (AS 1Malaysia). Today, the fund has been launched. Total of 10 billion unit with RM1.00 each will be sold through all the agents bank on 5 August.

There is a quota of 50% allocated for Bumiputera, 30% for Chinese, 15% for Indians, and 5% for others during the first 30 days. There is no quota after the period. The agents bank that distribute the fund are CIMB Bank, Maybank, and RHB Bank. Besides, the fund is also distributed by Pos Office and all the ASNB offices.

There is still no any official information published in ASNB website yet, but it has been announced that, the fund is fixed at RM1.00, same as ASM or ASW2020. Thus, it is expected that the return of this fund should be similar with the ASM and ASW2020. More information will be added here when there is official information published.

------------------------------

ASNB has announced the prospectus of AS 1Malaysia. The unit price of AS 1 Malaysia is fixed at RM1.00. According to the Guideline of Unit Trust, this fund is not a capital protected fund. However, as the price is fixed at RM1.00, in fact the fund is capital guaranteed.

The prospectus of AS 1Malaysia can be downloaded here, http://www.asnb.com.my/prospectusall.htm

ASM (Amanah Saham Malaysia) Available Again!

2009-07-15T23:02:00.001+08:00

As promised earlier, ASM which are not sold is opened to all the races. There are 1.6 billion unit of ASM will be opened for all the bumi or non-bumi to invest. These units will be available for investment at 21 July 2009. Each individual investor is only eligible for 20,000 units.

Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib announces earlier that there will be another fund called Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia launched and also managed by PNB, so people expect this new fund is similar to ASM, ASB or ASW2020.

However, we still do not have detailed information of the new AS1M, it is no hurt if people invest in ASM first while waiting for the more detailed information of AS1M.

More information on ASM, refer to earlier article:

ASM and ASW2020

The 10 Richest Malaysian 2009

2009-07-01T18:26:00.006+08:00

According to the Forbes’special report on 27 May 2009, these are the top 10 richest Malaysians:

1． Robert Kuok
Net Worth: US$ 9 billion
Age: 85
Main Business: Wilmar International, PPB

2． Ananda Krishnan
Net Worth: US$ 7 billion
Age: 71
Main Business: Maxis, Astro and India Aircel

3． Lee Shin Cheng
Net Worth: US$ 3.2 billion
Age: 70
Main Business: IOI Group

4． Lee Kim Hua & Family
Net Worth: US$ 2.5 billion
Age: 80
Main Business: Genting Group, Resorts World

5． Teh Hong Piow
Net Worth: US$ 2.4 billion
Age: 79
Main Business: Public Bank

6． Quek Leng Chan
Net Worth: US$ 2.3 billion
Age: 68
Main Business: Hong Leong Group

7． Yeoh Tiong Lay & Family
Net Worth: US$ 1.8 billion
Age: 79
Main Business: YTL Corporation

8． Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary
Net Worth: US$ 1.1 billion
Age: 57
Main Business: MMC Corporate, Malakoff

9. Tiong Hiew King
Net Worth: US$ 1.0 billion
Age: 74
Main Business: Sin Chew

10. Vincent Tan
Net Worth: US$ 0.75 billion
Age: 57
Main Business: Berjaya Group

Besides from the top 10, the others richest Malaysians are:

11. Azman Hashim – US$ 470 million
Chairman of Amcorp and Malaysian Investment Banking Association

12. William H.J. Cheng – US$ 390 million
Lion Group

13. G. Gnanalingam – US$ 260 million

14. Lim Kok Thay - US$ 225 million
Genting Group

15. Anthony Fernandes - US$ 220 million
AirAsia

16. Mokhzani Mahathir - US$ 215 million
Kencana

17. Lee Oi Hian - US$ 210 million
Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Batu Kawan

18. Chan Fong Ann - US$ 209 million
IOI Group Board Member

19. Kamarudin Meranun - US$ 205 million
AirAsia

20. Chong Chook Yew - US$ 200 million

21. Chen Lip Keong - US$ 195 million
NagaCorp

22. Lee Swee Eng - US$ 190 million
KNM

23. Jeffrey Cheah - US$ 185 million
Sunway Group

24. Lim Wee Chai - US$ 180 million
Top Glove

25. Ahmayuddin bin Ahmad - US$ 175 million

26. Lee Hau Hian - US$ 174 million
Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Batu Kawan

27. Lau Cho Kun - US$ 165 million

28. Vinod Sekhar - US$ 150 million

29. Liew Kee Sin - US$ 140 million
SP Setia

30. Tiah Thee Kian - US$ 135 million
TA Group

31. Rozali Ismail - US$ 130 million
Puncak Niaga

32. Lin Yun Ling - US$ 115 million
Gamuda

33. Yaw Teck Seng - US$ 113 million
Samling Group

34. Goh Peng Ooi - US$ 112 million
Silverlake Axis

35. Eleena Azlan Shah - US$ 110 million
Gamuda

36. David Law Tien Seng - US$ 105 million

37. Syed Mohd Yusof Tun Syed Nasir - US$ 100 million
K&N Kenanga

38. Hamdan Mohamad - US$ 98 million
Ranhill

39. Tan Teong Hean - US$ 95 million
Southern Bank

40. Kua Sian Kooi - US$ 90 million
Kurnia Insurance

The 10 Richest Malaysians 2008

Public Bank announce 1Q Financial Report of FY2009

2009-06-21T00:27:00.002+08:00

Public Bank, PBBANK (Stock Quote 1295) has announced the 1st quarter financial report for financial year 2009. These are the few key points of the report:

· The Group’s pre-tax profit, excluding the ING goodwill payment, shows a marginal drop of RM25.7 million or 3.3% to RM 744.9 million. It is a drop of RM68 million or 8.4% as compared to the pre-tax profit of RM812.9 million for the preceding quarter ended 31 December 2008.
· Net profit attributable to equity holders is lower by 17.9% to RM589.3 million compared to the previous corresponding quarter. This was due to the one-off goodwill payment of RM200 million received from ING in respect of a regional strategic alliance on bancassurance distribution in the previous corresponding quarter.
· Non-Performing loan (NPL) improved to below 1.0% from 1.1% a year ago. The NPL balance is RM1.23 billion as at 31 March 2009.
· Public Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of RM437.0 million for the first quarter of financial year 2009 and was lower than the pre-tax profit of RM804.5 million achieved in the previous corresponding quarter.
· Pre-tax profit contribution from the Group’s overseas operations decreased by RM32.3 million or 33.0% from the previous corresponding quarter to RM65.7 million.
· The EPS has decreased to 17.4 cent in the 1st quarter compared to 21.4 cent in the previous corresponding quarter.
· The Net assets per share is RM2.78.
· Total assets is RM199,226 million and total liabilities is RM188,882 million.

Previous Quarterly Financial Report

BKAWAN announce Q2 Financial Report of FY2009

2009-06-16T22:36:00.001+08:00

Batu Kawan Berhad, BKAWAN (Stock Quote 1899) has announced the 2nd quarter financial report for financial year 2009. These are the few key points of the report:

· The Group’s pre-tax profit for the current quarter was RM88.9 million, substantially lower than the RM117.3 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year, due to lower profit contribution from our plantation associate, KLK, which reported lower plantation and manufacturing profits.
· For the first half financial year 2009, Group pre-tax profit at RM140.8 million was lower than the RM262.2 million achieved last year.
· The current quarter’s pre-tax profit of RM88.9 million was higher than the RM51.8 million reported in the preceding quarter mainly due to a USD8.0 million surplus on disposal of an overseas investment by a foreign subsidiary.
· The Net Profit for the current quarter was RM86.66 million compared to the RM115.74 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
· A single-tier tax exempt interim dividend of 10sen per share has been declared. It will be paid on 12 Aug 2009 to shareholders registered in the Company’s Register as at 16 July 2009.
· The Earning Per Share (EPS) for the current quarter is 20.01sen, substantially lower than 26.41sen in the corresponding quarter last year.
· The Net Assets per Share is RM6.35.

Q1 Financial Report of FY2009

Malaysia Equity Funds Performance (31 May 2009)

2009-06-11T21:45:00.000+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 Year:

1. HLG Vietnam – 25.06%
2. Saham Amanah Sabah – 17.09%
3. AmanahRaya Islamic Equity – 1.81%
4. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – (1.90%)
5. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – (2.72%)
6. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – (3.28%)
7. MAA Capital Gtd Asia Pacific – (3.68%)
8. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – (3.69%)
9. Areca Equity Trust – (5.62%)
10. PB China ASEAN Equity – (5.89%)
11. Mayban Life Property Plus CG – (5.95%)
12. HLG European Dividend-Growth – (6.53%)
13. MCIS Zurich Equity – (6.64%)
14. Apex Small Cap – (6.91%)
15. MAA Platinum – (7.28%)
16. AMB Value Trust – (7.39%)
17. AMB Ethical Trust – (7.73%)
18. Uni Strategic – (8.17%)
19. OSK-UOB Malaysia Dividend – (8.28%)
20. Public Far-East Cons Themes – (8.68%)

3 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 23.36%
2. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 22.30%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 22.22%
4. Saham Amanah Sabah – 20.35%
5. Public SmallCap – 19.98%
6. Allianz Life Dynamic Growth – 19.37%
7. CMS Islamic – 19.01%
8. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 18.54%
9. Allianz Life Equity – 17.90%
10. Uni Strategic – 16.89%
11. OSK-UOB Resources – 16.16%
12. Uni Aggressive – 16.03%
13. MAAKL Growth – 15.90%
14. Manulife Equity – 15.51%
15. Public Islamic Opportunities – 15.35%
16. CIMB Principal Equity – 15.09%
17. PB Growth – 15.01%
18. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 14.55%
19. TA High Growth – 14.24%
20. Kenanga Growth – 14.08%

5 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 16.98%
2. PB Growth – 15.93%
3. Public SmallCap – 15.00%
4. AMB Ethical Trust – 14.97%
5. Manulife Equity – 14.35%
6. Public Aggressive Growth – 13.00%
7. Pacific Dividend – 12.77%
8. OSK-UOB Equity – 12.53%
9. Public Savings – 12.42%
10. MAAKL Al-Faid – 12.36%
11. Saham Amanah Sabah – 12.33%
12. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 11.76%
13. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 11.59%
14. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 11.51%
15. Public Equity – 11.47%
16. CIMB Principal Equity – 11.46%
17. Public Growth – 11.44%
18. Kenanga Syariah Growth – 11.43%
19. CIMB Islamic DALI Equity – 11.38%
20. Kenanga Growth – 11.36%

Source: Lipperweb

Click here for previous month performance.

New Domain!!!

2009-06-03T19:53:00.000+08:00

After writing the blog for one year, finally I have got my own domain name for the blog. Earlier, I plan to move my blog to my own hosting server from blogger, but there are some issues in between, especially the site uptime. By using blogger, I have no worry about the site uptime.

There are pros and cons of using blogger or using wordpress with own hosting server. Blogger is much simpler compared to wordpress and we no need to spend a penny to get our blogs hosted. Furthermore, site uptime is quite good so far...Good Job, Blogger!!!

By using wordpress, we need to spend some money to get hosting server, and we need to make sure the site uptime is satisfactory. Anyway, wordpress has much more gadgets to play with compared to blogger :) Moreover, by having own hosting server, we can integrate database into our blogs...I'm thinking of that, maybe some of you got any idea if I can do this in blogger???

So, finally, I have my own brand name for my blog... http://www.leekk8.com and my chinese version blog domain is http://chinese.leekk8.com.

Enjoy your reading and feedback to me if you have any comments...

Malaysia Equity Funds Performance (30 April 2009)

2009-05-18T20:43:00.001+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 Year:

1. Saham Amanah Sabah – 2.65%
2. HLG Vietnam – 1.23%
3. AmanahRaya Islamic Equity – (5.96%)
4. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – (6.10%)
5. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – (6.61%)
6. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – (7.08%)
7. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – (7.79%)
8. MAA Capital Gtd Asia Pacific – (8.38%)
9. HLG European Dividend-Growth – (10.42%)
10. Mayban Life Property Plus CG – (10.78%)
11. MAA Platinum – (11.26%)
12. Areca Equity Trust – (11.66%)
13. AMB Value Trust – (13.38%)
14. AMB Ethical Trust – (13.61%)
15. Uni Strategic – (14.06%)
16. Apex Small Cap – (14.20%)
17. HwangDBS Glo Emerging Markets – (14.51%)
18. MCIS Zurich Equity – (16.72%)
19. HLG Consumer Products Sector – (16.96%)
20. HLG Trading/Services Sector – (17.55%)

3 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 19.96%
2. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 18.38%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 18.14%
4. Public SmallCap – 15.06%
5. Saham Amanah Sabah – 14.98%
6. Allianz Life Dynamic Growth – 14.96%
7. Allianz Life Equity – 14.44%
8. Uni Strategic – 14.23%
9. Uni Aggressive – 13.95%
10. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 13.87%
11. MAAKL Growth – 12.32%
12. CIMB Principal Equity – 11.50%
13. Manulife Equity – 11.38%
14. MAAKL Al-Faid – 10.43%
15. PB Growth – 10.35%
16. TA High Growth – 10.11%
17. MAAKL Value – 9.94%
18. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 9.92%
19. CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Growth – 9.88%
20. AIA Dana Dinamik – 9.85%

5 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 14.04%
2. PB Growth – 13.00%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 11.76%
4. Public SmallCap – 11.69%
5. Manulife Equity – 10.87%
6. Pacific Dividend – 10.40%
7. OSK-UOB Equity – 10.36%
8. MAAKL Al-Faid – 10.17%
9. Public Aggressive Growth – 9.76%
10. Public Savings – 9.71%
11. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 9.35%
12. ING OA Inv- ING Blue Chip – 8.89%
13. Public Growth – 8.69%
14. ING OA Inv- ING Ekuiti Islam – 8.68%
15. Public Equity – 8.52%
16. CIMB Principal Equity – 8.49%
17. Public Islamic Equity – 8.45%
18. Saham Amanah Sabah – 8.45%
19. Public Regular Savings – 8.35%
20. Kenanga Syariah Growth – 8.31%

Source: Lipperweb

Click here for previous month performance.

Income Tax 2008 Submission

2009-04-22T21:49:00.002+08:00

Every year when around end of April, all the people will be busy to look for all the receipts of previous year. Looking for receipts for what? To declare income tax. Income tax submission is on 30 April every year. When around this day, all the LHDN (Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri) offices will be crowded from day to night.

Despite of old days, now we can submit the tax online, by using e-filing. After filing the tax, we can make the payment online as well, using online banking. This is really a convenient way for us. No need to take leave to go to the LHDN office. No need looking for parking. If do not want to take leave, then need to go there after work. By using e-filing, we can settle everything at home or at office. I just file my tax online, just takes me half an hour.

What do we need to prepare before doing the tax filing? The most important document is the EA form. From the EA form, you can actually key in the total salary, allowance, and your EPF contribution. Just be aware that this year is a bit different in the allowance, where some of the allowances are tax-exempted allowance, such as internet allowance, petrol card, and so forth. After that, compile all your receipts. The items can be used for tax deduction are books and magazine (max RM1000), sport item (max RM300), life insurance (max RM6000 together with EPF), medical insurance (max RM3000), computer (max RM3000 once every 3 year), parents’ medical bills (max RM5000), medical check-up fee (max RM500), and other donation to charity (max 7% of total income). So, by having all these amount, you just key in the figure online, then it will calculate your taxable income automatically as well as the tax amount that you need to pay.

Beside, you also need to key in all the dividends that you get last year, as we can claim back the exceeded tax if we are not in the 26% tax bracket. Just compile all your dividend voucher and key in all the information according to the online form, the exceeded tax will be calculated automatically.

Doubtful that if you need to declare income tax? Just take your total income last year (salary + bonus) minus the EPF contribution, if exceed RM24,000, you will need to declare tax. It is always a good practice to declare tax even you are not entitled to pay tax yet.

Going to submit but do not know how to do e-filing? Refer to the website, the guide is quite clear, https://spsd.hasil.gov.my/PKI/e/mainpage.html.

30 April 2009….another 8 days to go!!!

ASM and ASW2020

2009-04-21T22:12:00.002+08:00

Following the Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat, the government again announces for the additional units of Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) and Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW2020). The additional 3.3 billion units of ASM can be subscripted on 21 April 2009 onwards, and the additional 2 billion units of ASW2020 will be available for subscription on 27 April 2009 onwards.

These two funds are different from the other normal unit trust funds, where their NAV is always RM1.00. The minimum initial investment will be 100 units and the maximum investment per pax is 20,000 units. Both funds are equity funds, but the risk is much lower than the other normal unit trust funds, as they are “guaranteed” by the government. ASM has delivered a per unit income distribution of 6.75 sen, 6.8 sen and 7.8 sen while ASW2020 gave a per unit income distribution of 6.8 sen, 8 sen and 7 sen for years 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. So, the average returns for these funds are ranged 6% to 8%.

ASM and ASW2020 can be bought at all the ASNB offices, Post Office, Maybank, CIMB Bank and RHB Bank.

For detailed information, can refer to http://www.asnb.com.my/.
For ASM: http://www.asnb.com.my/asm.htm
For ASW2020: http://www.asnb.com.my/asw.htm

Personally, I should say these funds are suitable for those who do not want to bear the high risk as normal unit trust funds. Their return is almost same as the normal moderate risk unit trust funds, and they are much more stable. The difference is very obvious when we compare the return of ASM/ASW2020 with the normal unit trust funds for year 2007 and year 2008. In 2007, most of the normal equity funds give return of 40%-60% in a year, while ASM and ASW2020 give return of 7%-8% in a year. In 2008, there is the economy crisis and most of the share markets drop. Normal equity funds suffer loss of 20%-30% in a year generally, but ASM and ASW2020 still give return of 6%-7%.

So, depends on yourself, see which funds are suitable for you. For those who are thinking to invest in low risk funds like bond funds, this is actually a much better choice. Although ASM and ASW2020 are equity funds, their risk is as low as bond funds (or I can say their risk is lower than bond funds), and their return is definitely higher than bond funds. The only drawback is, you need to queue in the post office or banks to buy the units. However, recently the market is so bad, there is not many people actually queuing for these funds. In old days, 1 billions unit of ASW2020 can be sold out within half an hour countrywide. If you’re interested to have it, just go to the said banks to grab it.

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (31 March 2009)

2009-04-19T21:51:00.002+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 year:

1. Saham Amanah Sabah – (3.57%)
2. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – (7.63%)
3. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – (8.07%)
4. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – (8.12%)
5. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – (8.73%)
6. MAA Capital Gtd Asia Pacific – (9.58%)
7. HLG European Dividend-Growth – (11.30%)
8. MAA Platinum – (12.26%)
9. Mayban Life Property Plus CG – (13.11%)
10. HLG Vietnam – (15.07%)
11. Areca Equity Trust – (17.85%)
12. OSK-UOB Malaysia Dividend – (18.30%)
13. HwangDBS Glo Emerging Markets – (18.34%)
14. AMB Value Trust – (18.89%)
15. AMB Ethical Trust – (19.81%)
16. HLG Consumer Products Sector – (20.14%)
17. HLG Global Healthcare – (20.84%)
18. Uni Strategic – (20.93%)
19. OSKUOB Equity – (21.15%)
20. Apex Small Cap – (21.45%)

3 year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 17.91%
2. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 16.74%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 16.33%
4. Uni Aggressive – 13.71%
5. Saham Amanah Sabah – 12.95%
6. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 12.55%
7. CMS Islamic – 12.01%
8. Public SmallCap – 11.96%
9. Allianz Life Dynamic Growth – 11.59%
10. Uni Strategic – 11.51%
11. Allianz Life Equity – 11.38%
12. MAAKL Al-Fauzan – 9.46%
13. MAAKL Growth – 9.21%
14. Manulife Equity – 8.41%
15. CIMB Principal Equity – 8.25%
16. PB Growth – 8.13%
17. OSK-UOB Equity – 8.09%
18. MAAKL Al-Faid – 7.87%
19. Kenanga Syariah Growth – 7.76%
20. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 7.71%

5 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 10.70%
2. PB Growth – 9.46%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 8.56%
4. Public SmallCap – 8.04%
5. OSK-UOB Equity – 7.28%
6. Pacific Dividend – 6.90%
7. Manulife Equity – 6.82%
8. MAAKL Al-Faid – 6.77%
9. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 6.16%
10. Public Savings – 5.90%
11. Kenanga Syariah Growth – 5.24%
12. Saham Amanah Sabah – 5.18%
13. Public Islamic Equity – 5.07%
14. Alliance Dana Adib – 5.00%
15. HLG Consumer Products Sector – 4.83%
16. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 4.61%
17. Public Ittikal – 4.59%
18. Kenanga Growth – 4.54%
19. Public Aggressive Growth – 4.52%
20. CIMB Islamic DALI Equity – 4.37%

Source: Lipperweb

Click here for previous month performance.

Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat 2009

2009-04-13T23:00:00.001+08:00

Our Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib has announced the mini budget of RM60billion earlier to stimulus the economy. One of the programme in this budget is the Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat 2009 (Islamic Bond). The objective of this bond is to give a chance to people to earn some income during this economy crisis period, where most of the people not dare to invest in equity.

This bond is opened for all Malaysian above 21 year old, and the minimum investment is RM1,000, while the maximum investment is RM50,000 per investor. The bond will be launched at 14 May 2009, but the offer period is from 14 April 2009 to 13 May 2009. The agent for this offer will be all the commercial banks, including Bank Islam, Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), and Bank Pertanian Malaysia. Commercial banks are banks like Maybank, Public Bank, CIMB Bank, EON Bank, Ambank, RHB Bank and so forth.

The maturity period of this bond is 3 years from the issue date. Interest will be paid out quarterly with 5% interest per annum. This means that if you invest RM1,000 into it, you will receive RM12.50 every quarter, until the bond is matured after 3 years. After 3 years, you will get back your initial investment, which is RM1,000. So, in total you will receive RM150 of interest during these 3 years.

For more detailed, you can refer to the Bank Negara website:
Feature: http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=226&pg=731&ac=672
FAQ: http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=226&pg=731&ac=674

Personally thinking, this bond is suitable for those who not able to take risk at all. At this time, bond with 5% is really not bad, as the Fixed Deposits interest rate now is only 2.5% per annum. However, during this economy crisis, stocks market has dropped quite a lot, and most of the stocks now are at fair value level, and some even are undervalued. For those who can bear the risk and looking for higher return, should consider to invest in equity instead of this bond.

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (28 Feb 2009)

2009-03-17T22:27:00.002+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 year:

1. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – (9.60%)
2. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – (9.70%)
3. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – (10.08%)
4. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – (10.65%)
5. MAA Capital Gtd Asia Pacific – (10.67%)
6. Mayban Life Property Plus CG – (11.49%)
7. HLG European Dividend-Growth – (12.79%)
8. Saham Amanah Sabah – (13.22%)
9. MAA Platinum – (13.84%)
10. AMB Dividend Trust – (21.80%)
11. Areca Equity Trust – (22.64%)
12. AMB Value Trust – (23.40%)
13. AMB Ethical Trust – (24.35%)
14. HLG Consumer Products Sector – (24.62%)
15. MAAKL Al-Fauzan – (26.50%)
16. OSKUOB Equity – (26.58%)
17. MAAKL Dividend – (26.78%)
18. Allianz Life Equity Income – (27.34%)
19. MCIS Zurich Equity – (27.41%)
20. Uni Strategic – (27.51%)

3 year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 19.88%
2. AMB Ethical Trust – 18.61%
3. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 16.64%
4. Uni Aggressive – 14.44%
5. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 12.85%
6. CMS Islamic – 12.72%
7. Allianz Life Dynamic Growth – 12.22%
8. Public SmallCap – 11.94%
9. Saham Amanah Sabah – 11.94%
10. Allianz Life Equity – 11.44%
11. Uni Strategic – 11.17%
12. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 10.06%
13. MAAKL Growth – 9.05%
14. MAAKL Al-Fauzan – 9.02%
15. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 8.55%
16. OSK-UOB Equity – 8.47%
17. Manulife Equity – 8.39%
18. CIMB Principal Equity – 8.34%
19. PB Growth – 8.21%
20. TA High Growth – 7.77%

5 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 12.47%
2. AMB Ethical Trust – 10.07%
3. PB Growth – 9.47%
4. Public SmallCap – 8.04%
5. OSKUOB Equity – 7.41%
6. Manulife Equity – 7.25%
7. Pacific Dividend – 7.23%
8. MAAKL Al-Faid – 6.84%
9. Public Savings – 5.93%
10. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 5.74%
11. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 5.28%
12. Public Islamic Equity – 5.20%
13. Kenanga Syariah Growth – 4.83%
14. HLG Consumer Products Sector – 4.48%
15. Kenanga Growth – 4.33%
16. Public Ittikal – 4.29%
17. Public Aggressive Growth – 4.25%
18. Public Regular Savings – 4.18%
19. Lion Progressive – 4.17%
20. MAAKL Equity Index – 4.14%

Source: Lipperweb

BKAWAN announce Q1 Financial Report of FY2009

2009-03-01T14:39:00.000+08:00

Batu Kawan Berhad, BKAWAN (Stock Quote 1899) has announced the 1st quarter financial report for financial year 2009. These are the few key points of the report:

· The Group’s pre-tax profit for the current quarter was RM51.8 million, substantially lower than the RM144.9 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year.
· The current quarter’s pre-tax profit of RM51.8 million was substantially lower than the RM135.8 million reported in the preceding quarter mainly due to lower profit contribution from KLK.
· The Net Profit for the current quarter was RM46.96 million compared to the RM142.27 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
· The Earning Per Share (EPS) for the current quarter is 10.29sen, substantially lower than 32.52sen in the corresponding quarter last year.
· The Net Assets per Share is RM6.61.

Public Bank announce 4Q Report of FY2009

2009-02-28T22:29:00.002+08:00

Public Bank, PBBANK (Stock Quote 1295) has announced the 4th quarter financial report for financial year 2008. These are the few key points of the report:

· The Group’s pre-tax profit for the financial year ended 31 December 2008 of RM3,379.2 million was RM375.6 million or 12.5% higher than the previous corresponding period of RM3,003.6 million.
· Net profit attributable to equity holders improved by 21.5% to RM2,581.2million.
· Non-Performing loan (NPL) improved to 0.9% from 1.2% a year ago.
· Public Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of RM2,897.7 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2008 and was marginally higher than the pre-tax profit of RM2.850.8 million achieved in the previous year.
· Pre-tax profit contribution from the Group’s overseas operations decreased by RM130.4 million or 28.9% from the previous year to RM321.0 million.
· For the 4th quarter ended 31 December 2008, the Group registered a pre-tax profit of RM812.9 million, a decrease of RM8.3 million or 1.0% as compared to the previous corresponding quarter.
· Earnings attributable to equity holders grew by 12.8% or RM74.0 million in the current year.
· The EPS has increased to 19.5 cent in the 4th quarter compared to 17.3 cent in the previous corresponding period. The EPS for the financial year ended 31 December 2008 is 76.9 cent.
· Total assets is RM196,163 million and total liabilities is RM185,934 million.

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T10:56:00.000+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! Time passes very fast, year 2008 is already end and year 2009 starts. Year 2008 is not a very good year for investors and businessmen, as the world economy is facing crisis and retrenchment is heard everywhere. Anyway, crisis will end one day. Opportunity is still around during crisis. As a new year comes, we should think properly about the investment opportunity in the crisis time, and also plan properly for our finance.

In a new year, we should have a new goal and plan. In finance, we also should review our financial goals and financial plan. Set some more appropriate goals and have a better financial plan. If you still have a goal and plan yet, you should think about it now. Review your financial status now, set a financial goal, and then drafts a financial plan. Read these posts again for the process:

What is Financial Planning?
Some tools to help assessing our financial status
How to set financial goals effectively?
Setting Financial Goals
Start the Financial Plan – Pay Off the Debt
Is Emergency Fund Important?
Is Insurance Important?

Personal Financial Planning is not something done by rich people only. It is for anyone who wishes to become rich. If you are failed to plan, you plan to fail!

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (30 Nov 2008)

2008-12-17T23:12:00.002+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 Year:

1. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – (3.04%)
2. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – (3.41%)
3. Mayban Life Property Plus CG – (3.87%)
4. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – (3.92%)
5. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – (4.67%)
6. HLG European Dividend-Growth – (5.88%)
7. MAA Capital Gtd Asia Pacific – (6.59%)
8. MAA Platinum – (7.15%)
9. Saham Amanah Sabah – (7.80%)
10. AMB Dividend Trust – (19.67%)
11. HLG Consumer Products Sector – (20.05%)
12. MAA Technology – (20.79%)
13. AMB Value Trust – (21.27%)
14. AMB Ethical Trust – (21.90%)
15. Areca Equity Trust – (23.62%)
16. MAAKL Al-Fauzan – (24.60%)
17. AUTB Progress – (24.64%)
18. HLG Trading/Services Sector – (24.82%)
19. Allianz Life Equity Income – (24.91%)
20. MAAKL Dividend – (25.79%)

3 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 20.36%
2. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 19.99%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 18.90%
4. Uni Aggressive – 16.68%
5. Saham Amanah Sabah – 16.49%
6. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 16.43%
7. CMS Islamic – 15.98%
8. Public SmallCap – 14.64%
9. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 13.79%
10. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 12.73%
11. Uni Strategic – 12.73%
12. Manulife Equity – 11.80%
13. Allianz Life Dynamic Growth – 11.76%
14. CIMB Principal Equity – 11.38%
15. MAAKL Growth – 11.37%
16. MAAKL Value – 11.35%
17. TA High Growth – 11.24%
18. PB Growth – 11.02%
19. OSK-UOB Equity – 10.89%
20. MAAKL Al-Fauzan – 10.87%

5 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 12.99%
2. PB Growth – 12.42%
3. Public SmallCap – 11.03%
4. AMB Ethical Trust – 10.97%
5. Manulife Equity – 10.59%
6. OSKUOB Equity – 9.73%
7. MAAKL Al-Faid – 9.62%
8. Pacific Dividend – 8.58%
9. Saham Amanah Sabah – 8.58%
10. Public Savings – 8.27%
11. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 7.66%
12. Public Islamic Equity – 7.59%
13. Lion Progressive – 7.32%
14. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 7.23%
15. Public Aggressive Growth – 7.15%
16. Public Industry – 7.01%
17. Kenanga Syariah Growth – 6.97%
18. Kenanga Growth – 6.94%
19. Public Ittikal – 6.85%
20. AIA Aggressive – 6.75%

Source: Lipperweb

Click here for the previous month ranking.

EPF Reduced from 11% to 8%

2008-12-09T10:51:00.000+08:00

Recently, our Finance Minister announces that the EPF (Employee Pension Fund) is reduced from 11% to 8%, so that the people have more money every month, and increase the purchasing power. I believe the aim of this new policy is to increase the purchasing power and boost the economy. The question is, can this move really improve the purchasing power, and boost the economy?

Reduction from 11% to 8% means that we have extra 3% of our salary every month. 3% is not a huge amount, but also help a bit to ease our burden in this high inflation era. This is the direct benefit that we can see, but did we think in depth, what is the implication of this move? Is this really benefit to people like us?

EPF is our pension fund, and this will be the main income when we are retired. In fact, EPF is already not sufficient for our retirement fund. When we pay less 3% every month now, this means that our retirement fund in future will be lesser. Do not think that this 3% is just little. When we consider the compounding effect of the EPF dividend, this may make you lose quite a lot in future. Even RM100, after 30 years with dividend 5% per year (conservative assumption), this RM100 will become RM432, which is 4.32 times. This is the first thing we should consider.

Another more important aspect is the tax. Maybe most of us did not aware about the tax when we heard about this reduction in EPF. EPF is tax-deductible. We can minus out the EPF amount that we paid when we calculate for our taxable income. Now, we pay less to EPF, so that the deductible amount is also less. If your monthly income is in the range of RM2400 to RM6300, this reduction of EPF may increase your tax payable. People with income less than RM2400 a month, normally is not taxed. People with higher income than RM6300, their tax-deductible amount is already maximum. (EPF tax-deductible amount is RM6000 maximum)

Maybe you will think that 3% is not much, even you are taxed more, but the amount is still a small amount. In fact, you may get wrong. So, please check about your income if your salary range is between RM2400 and RM6300. In tax, there is a tax rebate RM400 for those who have taxable income less than RM35,000. If your taxable is just exceeded this RM35,000, because of the reduction of EPF, then you will need to pay RM400 more to Income Tax. Check back your last year BE Form, if your taxable income is around RM30,000, then you must be careful. With the increment of salary this year and next year, your taxable income may be closed to the RM35,000. If you choose to pay less to EPF, your taxable income may exceed RM35,000 and you will be taxed RM400 more. The reduction is automatic, so you should consider properly and apply to remain the same 11% deduction if you think you need to.

BKAWAN announce Q4 Financial Report of FY2008

2008-11-24T23:20:00.005+08:00

Batu Kawan Berhad, BKAWAN (Stock Quote 1899) has announced the 4th quarter financial report for financial year 2008. These are the few key points of the report:

• The Group’s pre-tax profit for the current quarter was RM135.8 million, marginally higher compared to the RM132.1 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year.

• The Group’s pre-tax profit for the year ended 30 September 2008 was RM522.8 million, substantially higher than the RM359.9 million recorded last financial year, mainly due to higher profit contribution from KLK.

• The Net Profit for the current quarter was RM132.8 million compared to the RM131.6 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

• The Net Profit for the year ended 30 September 2008 was RM514.0 million, substantially higher than the RM355.4 million recorded last financial year.

• The Earning Per Share (EPS) for the current quarter is 30.13sen and 117.25sen for the year ended 30 September 2008.

• The Net Assets per Share is RM6.66.

The price of BKAWAN today is RM7.00, so the PE is RM7.00/RM1.1725 = 5.97x
This is really a very low PE, and the net asset per share is almost same as the share price. BKAWAN announce that there is 9 sen (less 25% tax) and 40 sen (single tier tax exempted) dividend. By using the share price now, RM7.00, the DY is 7%.

Opportunity is here, did you grab it?

2008-11-19T23:41:00.000+08:00

Recently all the people talk about financial crisis, market is going down. When people meet up, no longer ask each other how much you have earned from investment, but asking each other how much you have lost in investment. Anyway, there is always opportunity during the crisis, but did you grab it?

Just share with you a story that I heard last time. There is a guy who is very holy and always prays to the god. One day, it is flood around his house. He thought this is the time for him to see the fruits of his continuous praying to the god. He believes the god will sure rescue him from the flood. He is waiting for the rescue on the roof top of his house.

There is a log flooding on the water coming near to him, other people ask him faster grab the log and move to safer place, but he refuses to. He says the god will sure come and rescue him. After sometime, there is a rescue boat come to get him. The guy says the boat is too crowded, he wants to wait for the god to rescue him. Now the water level is getting higher and higher, the guy is so dangerous. At this time, there is a helicopter coming near the guy and ask the guy to climb up the ladder into the helicopter. The guy does not want to climb the ladder, so he says the god will sure come to rescue him. Soon, the water level is higher than him and he really goes to see the god, he is died.

When he sees the god, he asks the god why the god is bad as did not rescue him although he always prays. The god answers that he already tried to save him for three times but the guy did not grab the opportunity. The god sent him a log, but the guy did not grab it. The god also sent him a boat, but the guy did not go into the boat. The god also sent him a helicopter, but the guy still did not go into the helicopter.

So, although the god has given the guy three opportunities, the guy did not appreciate the opportunities and also did not grab the opportunities. In real life, we should appreciate and grab all the opportunities around us. Do not always just wait for the opportunities. If you did not really think about the opportunity, you will not notice even the real opportunity is just beside you. During this financial crisis, we should analyze and think about it, grab the opportunity that in front of us.

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (31 Oct 2008)

2008-11-18T19:21:00.002+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 Year:

1. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – (2.43%)
2. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – (2.65%)
3. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – (2.66%)
4. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – (4.02%)
5. MAA Capital Gtd Asia Pacific – (5.52%)
6. MAA Platinum – (6.08%)
7. Property Plus CG – (7.29%)
8. Saham Amanah Sabah – (11.11%)
9. AMB Dividend Trust – (18.77%)
10. MAA Technology – (21.37%)
11. HLG Consumer Products Sector – (22.28%)
12. AMB Value Trust – (22.92%)
13. AMB Ethical Trust – (23.57%)
14. HLG Trading/Services Sector – (23.63%)
15. Allianz Life Equity Income – (24.26%)
16. Areca Equity Trust – (25.13%)
17. ASM Dana Al-Aiman – (25.85%)
18. MAAKL Dividend – (25.93%)
19. MAAKL Al-Fauzan – (25.95%)
20. AUTB Progress – (26.73%)

3 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. AMB Value Trust – 20.16%
2. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 20.11%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 18.42%
4. Uni Aggressive – 16.79%
5. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 16.30%
6. Saham Amanah Sabah – 15.88%
7. Uni Strategic – 14.38%
8. CMS Islamic – 14.27%
9. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 13.99%
10. Public SmallCap – 13.84%
11. Manulife Equity – 12.52%
12. PB Growth – 12.13%
13. TA High Growth – 11.77%
14. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 11.75%
15. CIMB Principal Equity – 11.38%
16. OSK-UOB Equity – 11.22%
17. MAAKL Progress – 10.80%
18. MAAKL Growth – 10.78%
19. MAAKL Value – 10.55%
20. Alliance Dana Adib – 10.23%

5 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. PB Growth – 12.83%
2. AMB Value Trust – 12.02%
3. Manulife Equity – 10.35%
4. Public SmallCap – 10.25%
5. AMB Ethical Trust – 9.94%
6. MAAKL Al-Faid – 9.09%
7. OSKUOB Equity – 8.72%
8. Saham Amanah Sabah – 7.98%
9. Public Savings – 7.68%
10. Public Islamic Equity – 7.62%
11. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 7.47%
12. Lion Progressive – 7.09%
13. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 7.03%
14. Public Industry – 6.81%
15. Kenanga Syariah Growth – 6.78%
16. Public Ittikal – 6.51%
17. Kenanga Growth – 6.26%
18. AIA Dana Dinamik – 6.20%
19. AIA Aggressive – 6.16%
20. CIMB-Principal Equity – 6.15%

Source: Lipperweb

Crisis??? Or Opportunity???

2008-10-27T23:52:00.002+08:00

If you are reading newspaper or listening to radio recently, you should know the global share market has been dropping for quite a lot. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and huge debt faced by AIG make the situation worse. Global share markets drops almost 50% from the peak at the early of the year. Crude Oil price and Crude Palm Oil price also has been dropping for quite a lot.

Look at the chart above to see the dropping since the peak of each indice. KLCI has dropped from the peak 1516 points before the general election until the latest 859 points last week. Today, HSI and HSCEI have dropped for 12.70% and 14.00% respectively in a single trading day. KLCI is unchanged due to the public holiday in Malaysia, and the KLSE has no trading. Obviously, KLCI will drop a lot tomorrow when the trading starts.

At this moment, all the papers report about the global financial crisis, unemployment rate, inflation, all the negative issues in economy. Most of the people now are so sad when talking about investment and economy. Investors have suffered a lot of paper loss now. Businessmen tell that business is not good. The whole world is so sad about the economy and investment.

So, what do you feel after you hear this? Sad? Worried? Scared? I believe most of the people will feel these, especially for those who suffer a lot from paper loss. When most of the people think like that, why not you think in another way round? Is this a crisis? Or actually it is an opportunity? Make your mind fresh and think about it properly. Really take some time to think about it…we think about it together and I will share my views and feelings here later.

“When all people is pessimistic, you should be optimistic. When all people is greedy, you should be worried” I believe most of you heard this before, but how many of us can do it?

Public Bank announce 3Q Report of FY2008

2008-10-22T00:02:00.004+08:00

Public Bank, PBBANK (Stock Quote 1295) has announced the 3rd quarter financial report for financial year 2008. These are the few key points of the report:

· The Group’s pre-tax profit for the nine months ended 30 Sep 2008 of RM2,566.2 million was RM383.3 million or 17.6% higher than the previous corresponding period of RM2,182.4 million.

· Net profit attributable to equity holders improved by 24.8% to RM1,927.3 million.

· Non-Performing loan (NPL) improved to 0.9% from 1.3% over the same period.

· Public Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of RM2,129.4 million for the nine months ended 30 Sep 2008 and was 14.1% higher than the previous corresponding period.

· Pre-tax profit contribution from the Group’s overseas operations increased by RM13.3 million or 4.8% from the previous corresponding period.

· For the 3rd quarter ended 30 Sep 2008, the Group registered a pre-tax profit of RM804.0 million, an improvement of RM29.6 million or 3.8% as compared to the previous corresponding quarter.

· Earnings attributable to equity holders grew by 13.4% or RM72.7 million over the same period.

· The EPS has increased to 18.4 cent in the 3rd quarter compared to 16.2 cent in the previous corresponding period. The EPS for nine month ended 30 Sep 2008 is 57.4 cent.

· Total assets is RM190,729 million and total liabilities is RM180,841 million.

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (30 Sep 2008)

2008-10-14T23:52:00.003+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 Year:

1. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 2.92%
2. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – 2.31%
3. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – 1.66%
4. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – 1.47%
5. Saham Amanah Sabah – 1.45%
6. Property Plus CG – (0.38%)
7. MAA Platinum – (1.02%)
8. AMB Dividend Trust – (6.74%)
9. HLG Consumer Products Sector – (7.01%)
10. AMB Value Trust – (7.48%)
11. AMB Ethical Trust – (8.31%)
12. MAA Technology – (9.08%)
13. Areca Equity Trust – (10.06%)
14. Allianz Life Equity Income – (10.71%)
15. Public SmallCap – (10.76%)
16. AUTB Progress – (11.74%)
17. MAAKL Dividend – (11.82%)
18. HwangDBS Glo Emerging Markets – (11.98%)
19. HLG Trading/Services Sector – (12.10%)
20. Allianz Life Equity – (12.33%)

3 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 25.27%
2. AMB Value Trust – 23.24%
3. AMB Ethical Trust – 21.31%
4. CMS Islamic – 21.20%
5. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 21.19%
6. Uni Aggressive – 20.69%
7. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 20.63%
8. Public SmallCap – 20.62%
9. PB Growth – 18.31%
10. Uni Strategic – 18.04%
11. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 18.00%
12. Manulife Equity – 17.90%
13. MAAKL Progress – 17.81%
14. Saham Amanah Sabah – 17.69%
15. Public Islamic Opportunities – 17.11%
16. MAAKL Value – 16.62%
17. TA High Growth – 16.37%
18. CIMB Principal Equity – 16.31%
19. MAAKL Growth – 15.80%
20. Public Aggressive Growth – 15.22%

5 Year: (Annualized Return)

1. PB Growth – 18.35%
2. Public SmallCap – 16.53%
3. AMB Value Trust – 16.32%
4. Manulife Equity – 16.09%
5. AMB Ethical Trust – 14.13%
6. Public Aggressive Growth – 13.79%
7. MAAKL Al-Faid – 13.60%
8. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 13.59%
9. OSKUOB Equity – 13.37%
10. Public Savings – 13.09%
11. Public Industry – 14.79%
12. Lion Progressive – 12.60%
13. Public Regular Savings – 12.47%
14. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 12.37%
15. Public Equity – 12.28%
16. Public Islamic Equity – 12.25%
17. Public Growth – 12.03%
18. Public Ittikal – 11.99%
19. MAAKL Progress – 11.87%
20. CMS Islamic – 11.78%

Source: Lipperweb

Have you paid your credit card bill fully?

2008-10-08T23:38:00.000+08:00

Many people have a habit that every month only pay the minimum payment of their credit card bill. This causes the credit card bills accumulate to be more and more, and at last, they are not afford to pay the bills.

Most of us know that the credit card interest is 1.5% per month, and there is 20 day interest free period. It means that the interest is only calculated if you do not pay the bills within 20 days from the bill issuance date.

Anyway, from July onwards, there is no more 20 day interest free period for those who do not pay the credit card fully. If you just pay the minimum payment, once you swipe your card, the interest will be calculated immediately. And, the late charge is also increased to RM10 instead of RM5 previously.

So, please pay all your credit card bill on time to avoid the high interest being charged to your retails. Do not let the bill to grow, the compounding of interest can make the debt increase very fast. So, PAY OFF all your CREDIT CARD DEBT NOW!!!

The TEN Principles of John Templeton’s Investment

2008-09-22T22:31:00.005+08:00

I have read a good article about the ten investment principles adopted by John Templeton in a chinese newspaper, The Oriental Daily. So, I have summarized it and translated to english and post here. You all can read and think if these principles are benefit to yourself.

1) Leave the market when everyone is looking good at the market
From experience, in a risky investment market, it is always minority earning money, and majority is just enjoying the process or losing money. Thus, when people look good, we leave the market; when people look bad on the market, we enter the market.

2) Do not put all eggs in one basket
Even professional analysts may judge wrongly. So, if you invest all your money into a single stock, you may lose all your money if anything bad happens on that particular stock. By diversification, we invest our money into several stocks, if one of the stocks performs badly, we still have most of our money left.

3) Choose emerging market if you want super high return
Like human, the fastest growth happens during baby and teenage stage, but not adult stage. So, investing in emerging markets, we may obtain super high return from the fast growth of economy in emerging countries.

4) Main factor in stock selection – Understand the management team
Everybody has different characteristics and attitude. To make a corporate to be successful, management team is playing the most important role. We should understand how they manage the corporate and select those corporate with a good management team.

5) Select stock with FELT
When selecting stock, we should justify if the stock price is FAIR, the market is EFFICIENT, the stock is LIQUID, and the corporate annual report is TRANSPARENT.

6) Investment opportunity is always available during crisis
In the final stage of crisis, normally markets have been dropped quite a lot, and there are stocks undervalued. By having many cheap stocks and undervalued stocks, there are a lot of opportunities for us to invest.

7) Investment decision guidance – Net Assets
Net asset is the difference between total assets and total liabilities of a corporate, then divided by the number of share. If net asset is higher than the current share price, this share is undervalued. If the net asset is lower than the current share price, this share is overvalued.

8) Understand the game rules and regulations before entering a market
There are different policies, rules and regulations in different markets and countries. Before we invest in a market, we should understand the rules and regulations in the markets, especially those emerging markets which has less complete law and rules to protect the investors.

9) Gold is always hidden under the sands
Do not just look at the surface when we invest. We should study the market, find out the potential corporate and invest in these potential corporations.

10) Technical analysis is not the most important method
Technical analysis is just a part of all the analysis methods. Technical analysis is a supplement after we analyze on the politics, capital and fundamental aspects. Investment is on a particular stock, so we should analyze the fundamental of the corporate before we invest.

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (31 August 2008)

2008-09-16T22:06:00.002+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 Year Return Ranking:

1. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 7.16%
2. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – 5.89%
3. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – 5.80%
4. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – 5.18%
5. OSK-UOB Resources – 4.83%
6. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 4.54%
7. AMB Value Trust – 3.67%
8. Property Plus CG – 3.29%
9. MAA Platinum – 3.18%
10. HLG Consumer Products Sector – 2.98%
11. MAA Technology – 2.24%
12. AMB Ethical Trust – 1.64%
13. Areca Equity Trust – 1.47%
14. AMB Dividend Trust – 1.14%
15. Public SmallCap – 0.98%
16. PRUGlobal Basics – 0.90%
17. PB ASEAN Dividend – 0.41%
18. HwangDBS Glo Emerging Markets – 0.35%
19. OSKUOB Emerg Oppty – 0.24%
20. AmGlobal Agribusiness – (0.34)%

3 Year Return Ranking: (Annualized Return)

1. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 29.05%
2. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 26.23%
3. CMS Islamic – 25.95%
4. AMB Value Trust – 25.85%
5. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 24.88%
6. AMB Ethical Trust – 23.57%
7. Public SmallCap – 23.55%
8. Uni Aggressive – 22.78%
9. Manulife Equity – 22.12%
10. PB Growth – 21.92%
11. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 20.60%
12. MAAKL Progress – 20.53%
13. Public Islamic Opportunities – 20.39%
14. CIMB Principal Equity – 20.18%
15. Uni Strategic – 20.40%
16. Public Aggressive Growth – 20.00%
17. MAAKL Value – 19.71%
18. TA High Growth – 19.34%
19. MAAKL Growth – 18.76%
20. CIMB Principal Small Cap – 18.75%

5 Year Return Ranking: (Annualized Return)

1. PB Growth – 19.89%
2. Manulife Equity – 18.22%
3. Public SmallCap – 17.41%
4. AMB Value Trust – 17.01%
5. Public Aggressive Growth – 16.00%
6. MAAKL Al-Faid – 15.51%
7. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 15.26%
8. Public Industry – 14.79%
9. AMB Ethical Trust – 14.79%
10. Public Savings – 14.69%
11. Public Equity – 14.55%
12. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 14.32%
13. Public Growth – 14.32%
14. OSKUOB Equity – 14.13%
15. Lion Progressive – 14.04%
16. Public Ittikal – 14.01%
17. Public Regular Savings – 13.96%
18. Public Islamic Equity – 13.84%
19. Public Index – 13.51%
20. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 13.47%

Source: LipperWeb

DIGI Offers FREE PA Insurance for Subscribers

2008-09-11T22:39:00.003+08:00

From 11 Sep 2008 onwards, DIGI is offering a 1-Year FREE Personal Accident Insurance to all the subscribers.

The benefits are as following:
- RM10,000 for Accidental Death
- RM10,000 for Permanent Disablement
- RM500 for Funeral Expenses (due to Accidental Death)

For detailed information, you can look at https://www.digi.com.my/whatshot/promotions/insurance/index.do

To sign up the free insurance, just go to https://www.digi.com.my/insurance/index.do, fill in all the relevant information and sign up. You must be DIGI Prepaid/Postpaid registrant for more than 3 months.

Since this is a free insurance offered by DIGI, all the DIGI subscribers should apply for the plan fast. Although RM10,000 coverage is not much, at least this give you or your family more compensation when you have accident. DO activate the plan now!!!

Financial Planning Talk (7): Is Insurance Important?

2008-08-26T20:44:00.003+08:00

Earlier, I have mentioned that before we start to invest, we need to have sufficient emergency fund. Actually, beside this emergency fund, we still need to protect our wealth before we start to invest. Saving money and invest is to accumulate our wealth and gain more wealth. In order to make sure we are able to accumulate and gain more wealth, we need to protect our wealth in the first place.

Why do we need to protect our wealth? During our wealth accumulation, if there is any accident or we are so unfortunate and get illnesses, we may spend all our wealth for our living expenses or medical fees after the accident or illnesses. If we have no any wealth protection, all the money which are accumulated over few tens year may be spent finish in a short while.

How to protect our wealth? When we talk about wealth protection, it is insurances. Insurances can pay for us when we need to be admitted into hospital. Insurances can provide some money when we get serious sicknesses. Insurances can leave some money for our family when we are not around anymore. So, insurance is the tool for us to protect our wealth.

When we are considering buying insurance, we need to understand our ability. There are a lot of insurance plans. We need to understand the coverage, premiums, terms and conditions when we decide to buy a particular plan. We need to consider our ability, do not buy a high premium policy which makes us stress when saving money to pay the premium.

Besides, buying insurance does not need to buy much. Just buy whatever you need, just buy whatever you can, then it is good enough. Personally, I prefer to buy traditional policy instead of investment-linked policy or some saving plans. Life insurance, medical card, 36 critical illnesses, and personal accident policies should be sufficient for normal individuals. Insurance is to protect our wealth, it is not to earn money. It is advisable that we invest in other investment tools to gain return instead of signing up investment-linked policy.

Maybe you can look for a good agent to explain to you in details about all these policies and try to figure out the best combination of policies you should buy. I feel that most of the policies out there are almost same, so I would choose a good agent and buy from him or her. A good insurance agent is very important, as he or she can always review the policy together with you according to your dependants and income. When you need some advice about insurance, he or she can be always available to help you. Try to emphasize more on the quality of the agent, but not only the premium and policy.

Financial Planning Talk (6): Is Emergency Fund Important?

2008-08-22T20:26:00.000+08:00

After we assess our financial situation and set our financial goals, we will come out with a financial plan or investment plan. Earlier, I have stated that paying off all the debts should be the first step in our financial plan. So, if we have paid off all the high interest debts, then we should save money and invest to gain more money with money.

Many people neglect the first step before they invest, they do not have any cash for emergency case, so when they need some cash urgently, they need to cash out their investment even their investment is facing paper loss. This is not the right way, as investment need to be long term.

An emergency fund is very important for us before we start to invest. The objective of investment is to earn money comfortably and make our future life better. So, when we invest, we should make sure we are comfortable with the investment and we will not worry about the investment everyday until cannot sleep or cannot eat. By having a sufficient emergency fund, we should not be worry about our investment and let the investment grow over the time.

Then, how much is sufficient for an emergency fund? This depends on our expenses. Normally, financial advisors will advice us to prepare an emergency equivalent to our 6-month expenses. This can make sure we still can survive for 6 months if we lose our job suddenly. For those who are still single and not the main source of income for the family, you can consider preparing an emergency fund equivalent to 3-month expenses. It is not easy for career newbie to accumulate 6-month expenses as emergency fund.

How we can prepare the emergency funds? We should save a portion of our salary, maybe 10% or 20% every month to accumulate this emergency fund. The best way to put this emergency fund is Fixed Deposits (FD) which we can cash out money immediately (if it is business day) if we need the money urgently. If your job is extremely safe and your income is not the only income for the family, you can consider putting 70% of it into FD, and 30% of it into some low risk funds, such as bond funds.

The last thing to remember, while our expenses increase along the way, our emergency fund should increase as well. Review our expenses regularly and add more into the emergency fund to maintain our emergency funds to be always equivalent to our 3-month / 6-month expenses.

Batu Kawan announces 3Q FY2008 Report

2008-08-20T20:30:00.001+08:00

Batu Kawan (BKAWAN) has announced the financial report of 3Q FY2008. These are the few key points of the report.

- The group achieved a substantially higher pre-tax profit of RM124.8 million against RM77.9 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year, mainly due to higher profit contribution from KLK.

- The group’s pre-tax profit for the current 9 months under review of RM387.0 million was 69.9% higher than the RM227.8 million achieved in the corresponding period last year.

- The EPS of current quarter is 28.01 sen against 17.15 sen in the corresponding quarter last year. The EPS for the current 9 months is 86.99 sen while the EPS for the corresponding period last year is 50.29 sen.

- Total assets of the group is 2,879.58 million while the total liabilities of the group is 88.63 million.

- The net assets per share is RM 6.34

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (31 July 2008)

2008-08-14T15:01:00.002+08:00

(Bracket indicates negative value)

1 Year Return Ranking:

1. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 9.52%
2. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – 8.05%
3. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – 7.49%
4. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – 6.92%
5. MAA Platinum – 6.10%
6. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 2.78%
7. HLG Consumer Products Sector – 2.27%
8. MAA Technology – 1.85%
9. OSK-UOB Resources – 1.51%
10. AmGlobal Agribusiness – 1.47%
11. PRUGlobal Basics – 1.26%
12. HwangDBS Glo Emerging Markets – 0.90%
13. AMB Value Trust – 0.13%
14. Property Plus CG – (0.06%)
15. AmNew Frontier – (0.16%)
16. MAAKL Dividend – (0.42%)
17. ASM Dana Al-Aiman – (0.45%)
18. AmDividend Income – (0.49%)
19. ASM Dana Bestari – (0.88%)
20. AMB Ethical Trust – (0.91%)

3 Year Return Ranking: (Annualized Return)

1. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 31.28%
2. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 29.08%
3. AMB Value Trust – 27.08%
4. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 27.02%
5. Uni Aggressive – 25.50%
6. Public SmallCap – 25.29%
7. Manulife Equity – 25.08%
8. AMB Ethical Trust – 25.01%
9. PB Growth – 24.76%
10. Public Aggressive Growth – 23.51%
11. MAAKL Progress – 22.88%
12. CIMB Principal Equity – 22.70%
13. Public Islamic Opportunities – 22.61%
14. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 22.34%
15. Uni Strategic – 22.13%
16. CIMB Islamic DALI Equity – 21.29%
17. MAAKL Value – 21.25%
18. TA High Growth – 20.68%
19. ING OA Inv- ING Ekuiti Islam – 20.42%
20. MAAKL Growth – 20.05%

5 Year Return Ranking: (Annualized Return)

1. PB Growth – 22.98%
2. Manulife Equity – 21.33%
3. AMB Value Trust – 20.74%
4. Public SmallCap – 20.11%
5. Public Aggressive Growth – 19.40%
6. CMS Islamic – 18.88%
7. AMB Ethical Trust – 18.58%
8. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 18.31%
9. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 18.13%
10. Public Ittikal – 17.91%
11. Public Equity – 17.58%
12. Public Industry – 17.55%
13. MAAKL Al-Faid – 17.55%
14. CMS Premier – 17.34%
15. Public Islamic Equity – 17.22%
16. Public Savings – 16.96%
17. Public Growth – 16.96%
18. ING Equity – 16.79%
19. Public Regular Savings – 16.79%
20. Lion Progressive – 16.62%

Source: Lipper

6 Tips to Get Out from Debts

2008-08-06T23:12:00.004+08:00

Recently I read an article at Money Compass magazine, feel that these 6 tips should be beneficial to those who have credit cards debts currently. So, I just translate it to english and post here.

Tips 1: Face the debt honestly
There are many people not clear how much debt actually they have. Normally, they just pay the minimum payment after they receive the bill. If you have any debt, take out all the bills immediately and calculate how much debt you have now. Face your debt honestly.

Tips 2: Plan for a budget, compare the interest rate, and repay the debts as soon as possible
Everybody should plan for own budget and spend wisely. When expenditure is higher than income, we will take loans and get credit card debts. Try to avoid instalment when doing purchase, thus can save some interest. We should manage to calculate the interest for each type of loans or debts, and find the best way to save the interest. If we know that we have not enough money to spend, we must spend wisely, spend on needs, but not spend on wants. Beside, we also need to increase our income by getting part time jobs.

Tips 3: DO NOT use credit cards if you are not self-discipline
To enjoy in a short while may cause you into financial trouble for a long time. Do not think to enjoy first and pay later. When you want to swipe your credit card, you must justify if you are able to pay the bill. Make sure to clear all the credit cards bills before the due date. Reminder: credit card is a payment tool which provides us convenience. If we are not self-discipline enough, DO NOT use credit cards.

Tips 4: Restructure the debts and manage the debts
While settling the debts, we should settle the high interest debts first. Meanwhile, we can discuss with banks to restructure the debts, trying to get the plan with best interest rate, and manage the debts properly. Beside, we also can look for assistance from AKPK consultants, get out from debts by managing the debts effectively.

Tips 5: Record all the expenditure
We should record down all the expenditure according to different types of expenditure, such as meal, purchase daily necessary, phone bills, etc. With this record, we understand where we spend our money to. By adjusting our expenditure, we can allocate a portion of the money as emergency fund or for investment.

Tips 6: Forced Saving
If we have no saving at all, it is useless we mention about investment or financial management. It is very important we have savings. According to our expected standard of livings, set appropriate financial goals, force ourselves to save money regularly. It does not matter on the amount, even it is just small amount, it helps to achieve our financial goals. When there is economic crisis, this is very important, we should prepare 3 to 6 month expenditure as emergency fund. If you plan your financial early, there is no worry even during economic crisis.

Financial Planning Talk (5): Start the Financial Plan – Pay Off the Debt

2008-07-25T20:30:00.000+08:00

After setting the goals, we can start to come out with the financial plan. The financial plan should be aligned with the goals. For each short term goal, we need to plan accordingly to achieve the particular goal.

Typically, the first thing in our financial plan should be paying off all the debts, if got any. It is glad that you are free of debts. If you have any, paying off the debts should be the first goal that you must achieve.

The rule of paying off debt is, pay off the debts with highest interest rate first, and pay off the debts with lowest interest rate last. Normally, credit card debts have the highest interest rate, which is 18% p.a. If you have credit card debts, you must pay off all your credit cards debt as soon as possible. Stop to swipe your card, purchase using cash. Do balance transfer and negotiate with banks to pay off the debts in a certain period with lower interest rate.

Besides credit card debts, personal loans are the second high interest rate loan, then followed by car loans and housing loans. Normally, we will pay off the car loans and housing loans in long period, such as 5-7 years and 20-25 years respectively.

There is something we must bear in mind. Never invest your money while you have debts, unless the return of the investment is higher than the debts interest rate. For example, credit card debts annual interest is 18%, while FD interest rate is only 3.7%, unit trust investment gives annual return 8-10%, and stock investment gives annual return 12-15%. So, we should always pay off all the credit card debts before we do investment or saving.

Financial Planning Talk (4): Setting Financial Goals

2008-07-20T23:11:00.002+08:00

Before we set our financial goals, we should understand well about our current financial situation. After we set our financial goals, then we can plan for implementation plan according to our financial goals. For financial goals, we should set long term goals and short term goals. Having short term goals, it is easier for us to plan for the implementation plan to achieve the goals. And these short term goals are the progress to achieve the long term goals.

Why we need short term goals? If we set our financial goals as to retire early with 1 million ringgit after 15 years, it is very difficult for us to have a proper investment plan which can help us to achieve the goals. However, if we consider our current financial situation and set some short term goals which can help us to achieve the financial goals eventually, it is easier for us to have a good investment plan.

Typically, we should first examine our assets and debts. Debts must be paid off before we start our investment plan, unless the interest of the debts is less than the return of the investment. So, for this example, we can set some short terms goals, such as pay off all bad debts within 1 year, then save for a certain amount for investment within 3 years, meanwhile invest the money into different investment tools with different rate of return, targeting to get 200 thousands within first 5 years, then 500 thousands after 10 years, and eventually achieve 1 million after 15 years.

By having a clear target within a shorter period, we can set a proper investment plan easily and more important, we can review our financial planning periodically and justify if we are going the right way. If we cannot achieve the short term goals, we should review our long term goals and investment plan, and revise the plan in order to achieve our financial goals eventually.

This is just an example, we can set any short term goals that we need to, such as for some purchases or traveling and so forth. Anyway, we should always set goals which fulfill the 5 features that I mentioned in earlier post, which are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely).

Example:

Public Bank announce 2Q FY2008 Report

2008-07-18T17:41:00.005+08:00

Public Bank has just announced its Financial Year 2008 Second Quarter financial report.

These are the few key points about its performance:
- Group’s pre-tax profit for the financial half year ended 30 Jun 08 of RM1,762.2 million is 25.2% higher than the previous corresponding half year.
- Net profit attributable to equity holders improved by 31.0%
- Group’s domestic bank, Public Bank, recorded a pre-tax profit of RM1525.5 million for the financial half year ended 30 Jun 08 and was 20.3% higher than previous corresponding half year.
- Pre-tax profit contribution from overseas operations increased by 16.8% to RM202.7 million.
- For the single 2nd quarter, the group registered a pre-tax profit of RM791.6 million, 8.0% higher than previous corresponding quarter.
- Its gross non-performing loan (NPL) decreasing by 21.9% to RM1.22 billion and Group’s net NPL ratio improved to 0.9% from 1.5% over the same period.
- EPS for 2nd quarter and financial half year is 17.69 cent and 39.08 cent respectively.
- Net assets per share is RM2.7921.

Public Bank has announced an interim dividend of 30% less 26% tax, which is 30 cent per share.

The 10 Richest Malaysians

2008-07-15T23:36:00.001+08:00

1．Robert Kuok
Net Worth: US$ 10 billion
Age: 84
Main Business: Wilmar International, PPB

2．Ananda Krishnan
Net Worth: US$ 7.2 billion
Age: 70
Main Business: Maxis, Astro and India Aircel

3．Lee Shin Cheng
Net Worth: US$ 5.5 billion
Age: 69
Main Business: IOI Group

4．Teh Hong Piow
Net Worth: US$ 3.5 billion
Age: 78
Main Business: Public Bank

5．Lee Kim Hua & Family
Net Worth: US$ 3.4 billion
Age: 79
Main Business: Genting Group

6．Quek Leng Chan
Net Worth: US$ 2.4 billion
Age: 67
Main Business: Hong Leong Group

7．Yeoh Tiong Lay & Family
Net Worth: US$ 2.1 billion
Age: 78
Main Business: YTL Corporation

8．Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary
Net Worth: US$ 1.8 billion
Age: 56
Main Business: MMC Corporate, Malakoff

9．Vincent Tan
Net Worth: US$ 1.3 billion
Age: 56
Main Business: Berjaya Group

10. Tiong Hiew King
Net Worth: US$ 1.1 billion
Age: 78
Main Business: Sin Chew

Pump Petrol Using Credit Card

2008-07-11T23:30:00.001+08:00

The petrol price has been increased by 40%, we as consumers really suffer from the high petrol price and high inflation rate. To fight with the high inflation, we always try to save more petrol when driving and get as much as rebate when pumping petrol.

Recently there are few banks offering credit cards that getting rebate when pump petrol, I found that Direct Access Mastercard is quite good, getting 2% rebate in any petrol station. Maximum rebate per month is RM50. Moreover, we still can use loyalty card to get loyalty points, example BonusLink in Shell, Smiles in Esso and Mobil, Mesra card in Petronas and so forth. I personally use Direct Access Mastercard together with Smiles card in Esso or Mobil, so that I can get 2% rebate from credit card and get 1 point for RM1 from Smiles card. 1000 Smiles points can redeem RM15 petrol, so in total, I can save 3.5%.

Looking at other credit cards, Citibank Shell Card only can get 1.5% rebate if you have no outstanding balance. Maybank and CIMB Petronas Card can get more treats points and 2% rebate respectively, but no loyalty points can be collected using these two cards.

Anyway, DO pump petrol using credit card ONLY if you are discipline enough to pay the bills on time every month to avoid from interest charges. Also, always consider to apply Free For Life credit cards.

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (30 June 2008)

2008-07-08T23:34:00.004+08:00

1 Year Return Ranking:

1. OSK-UOB Resources – 18.56%
2. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 14.62%
3. PB Asean Dividend – 12.39%
4. PRUGlobal Basics – 10.64%
5. MAA Capital Guaranteed 2 – 9.63%
6. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 9.63%
7. MAA Capital Guaranteed 3 – 9.35%
8. AMB Value Trust – 9.22%
9. MAA Capital Guaranteed 1 – 9.08%
10. PB Growth – 7.66%
11. AmNew Frontier – 7.54%
12. CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Growth – 7.28%
13. Public SmallCap – 6.97%
14. PRUlink Guaranteed Account – 6.85%
15. CIMB Islamic Small Cap – 6.75%
16. AmGlobal Agribusiness – 6.26%
17. Public Far-East Select – 6.10%
18. CIMB Islamic Equity – 6.01%
19. CIMB-Principal Small Cap – 6.00%
20. CIMB-Principal Equity Growth & Income – 5.88%

3 Year Return Ranking: (Annualized Return)

1. OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 34.23%
2. CMS Islamic – 31.89%
3. HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 31.03%
4. AMB Value Trust – 29.10%
5. OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 28.68%%
6. PB Growth – 28.41%
7. Public SmallCap – 27.72%
8. AMB Ethical Trust – 27.25%
9. Public Aggressive Growth – 27.02%
10. Uni Aggressive – 26.70%
11. Manulife Equity – 26.47%
12. MAAKL Progress – 26.42%
13. CIMB Islamic DALI Equity – 25.18%
14. CIMB Principal Equity – 24.90%
15. Public Islamic Opportunities – 24.52%
16. OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 24.52%
17. MAAKL Value – 24.41%
18. ING OA Inv- ING Ekuiti Islam – 23.65%
19. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 23.53%
20. CIMB Principal Equity Growth & Income – 23.44%

5 Year Return Ranking: (Annualized Return)

1. PB Growth – 24.77%
2. Manulife Equity – 22.75%
3. AMB Value Trust – 22.11%
4. Public SmallCap – 21.85%
5. Public Aggressive Growth – 21.04%
6. CMS Islamic – 20.80%
7. ING Dana Suria Ekuiti – 20.80%
8. AMB Ethical Trust – 20.06%
9. Public Ittikal – 19.77%
10. Public Industry – 19.56%
11. OSK-UOB KLCI Tracker – 19.40%
12. CMS Premier – 19.33%
13. ING Equity – 19.02%
14. Public Equity – 18.90%
15. MAAKL Progress – 18.73%
16. MAAKL Al-Faid – 18.60%
17. Public Islamic Equity – 18.55%
18. Public Growth – 18.29%
19. Lion Progressive – 18.16%
20. Public Savings – 18.16%

Sources: Lipper

Financial Planning Talk (3): How to set financial goals effectively?

2008-07-06T23:58:00.000+08:00

After assessing our financial status, we should set our financial goals. Without goals, we have no target in our financial planning and we can achieve nothing. Without goals, it is very difficult to draft up a proper financial plan for ourselves. Goals are actually what we wish to achieve. However, most of us have no idea how to set the financial goals effectively.

Typically, one of the methods to set goals effectively is getting S.M.A.R.T.

Specific. When we set our financial goals, the goals must be specific. Keeping the goals specific, we can set our plan easier, as we can plan for specific action to achieve specific goals.
Example: To get enough education funds for the son to study at Australia by using both education plan policy and bluechips investment.

Measurable. As we need to revise our financial plan regularly, we need to make sure our goals are measurable. If we cannot measure it, we cannot imagine it. Measurable goals make us clearer what is our goals and easier for us to judge if we have achieved, partial achieved or not achieved. Having a measurable goal, we can see the change occurs.
Example: To get RM300,000 of the education funds for the son to study oversea from both education plan policy and bluechips investment.

Attainable/Achievable. When we set our financial goals, we will think of the way we want to achieve the goals. The financial goals must be achievable and not too far from our ability. The feeling of success helps you to remain motivated.
Example: To get 15% average annual return from the bluechips investment and 7% average annual return from the education plan policy.

Realistic. Realistic means something do-able. When we set our financial goals, we must be realistic. Looking at the resources that we have and the status that we are in, set a realistic goal.
Example: By using RM10,000 as capital and yearly top up of RM5,000 to invest in bluechips. Pay RM300 per month for the education plan policy.

Timely. All the goals that we set must be put a time frame. Without time frame, we will never start to move towards the goals. No time frame, no commitment.
Example: To get RM300,000 of the education funds for the son after 15 years.

Story Telling: Patience and Determination

2008-06-30T00:21:00.000+08:00

I would like to share with you a story that I heard recently. There is a very high tower, and a group of frogs are going to jump to the top of the tower to see the view there. At halfway, one of the frogs said that it is so tired and hot, it does not want to continue and give up. Some of the frogs also give up when this frog stops, while the rest continue to jump. After a while, another frog said that there should be nothing special at the top of the tower, and we need not to suffer from the tiredness to jump up to the top of the tower. So those who listened to the frog, also agreed to stop and give up. At the end, there is only one frog jumping up to the top of the tower. All the frogs are so surprise and ask the frog, why are you so determined and preserved to jump up to the top of the tower? Then, they realize, the frog is actually deaf. Due to it cannot hear what the other frogs say, so it can jump up to the top of the tower patiently.

This is only a very short story, but let me to have a very good lesson. Some of you might not understand the morale of this story, it is ok, I would like to share what message I get from this story.

Some of us know about the importance of financial planning, also spend time to assess our financial status and set our own financial goals, as well as prepare our own investment plan. After we implement our investment plan for a period of time, probably someone around us would say that our investment plan will not be successful, and investment is very risky. There might be also some people would say that we do not know what will happen tomorrow, of course we should enjoy life now and do not need to save money for investment. This is same as what happened in the story. If we cannot pretend to be deaf at this moment, we might listen to them and give up our investment plan. Finally, we cannot achieve financial freedom. Only if we can pretend to be deaf, we are able to implement the investment plan with full of determination and patience, and eventually achieve the financial freedom.

For those who are investing in stock market, most of us will learn from Warren Buffett, to choose some good stocks, invest and keep for long term. However, after some time, when people around us said that their stocks are rising fast, but our stocks are not moving much, we should change stocks and invest in same stocks that they have. There might be some people will tell us that there is rumour that there are some stocks will rise since there will be speculation. So, at this moment, if we cannot pretend to be deaf, we might listen to these rumours and change to invest in those rumour stocks which we know nothing about them. In stock market, we as normal investors are not able to win over the professional speculators. So, if we can pretend to be deaf, and do not listen to what other people say, we will keep going with our investment plan. Investing in good stocks for long term, having dividend and compounding effect, we can earn a pretty return.

While implementing our financial plan or during our investment, sometime we should not listen too much what other people are saying. Prepare a good plan for ourselves, keep following the plan patiently and with full of determination, eventually we can achieve financial freedom.

Financial Planning Talk (2): Some tools to help assessing our financial status

2008-06-23T00:08:00.009+08:00

Earlier, I have mentioned that the first step in personal financial planning is assessing our current financial status. This step is very essential as we need to know how much our net income is, how much assets we have and how much debt we have. We should take all these into consideration before we choose the most suitable investment strategy for our financial plan.

Each of us may have our own way to assess our current financial status, but for those who still have no idea how to know about our financial status, this is the guide for us to assess our financial status in general. For those who are very good in accounting, they can build their own balance sheet and income statement. These two tables can give them a clear picture how much assets, debt and cash they have. Normally balance sheet will include assets (such as property, equity, bank deposits, bond, etc), and debt (such as housing loan, education loan, personal loan, credit card debt, etc). Income statement should include your income and expenditure, and this can show you how much net income you have every month.

However, most of us have no idea about proper accounting, so we can do it in another way. We can list down the monthly income (such as salary, allowance, side income, etc), and monthly expenditure (such as house installment/rent, car installment, daily life expenditure, etc). Then, we also list down the yearly income (such as year end bonus, equity dividend, bond/deposit interest, etc) and yearly expenditure (such as insurance premium, roadtax, income tax, etc). From these two listings, we can calculate our monthly net income and yearly net income.

Beside, we also need to list down our current assets and debts. List down assets (such as properties (own use/rental), unit trust funds, bank deposits (saving, current, and fixed deposits), stocks, gold, etc), and debts (such as housing loan, car loan, credit card debt, personal loan, etc). At last, we also list down the insurance that we have and the sum-insured.

Here is the example of the lists:

Historical Performance of Malaysia Equity Funds (30 May 2008)

2008-06-18T17:46:00.003+08:00

1 Year Return Ranking:

OSK-UOB Resources – 28.10%
OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 26.30%
Public SmallCap – 25.32%
Public Far-East Select – 22.58%
CIMB Islamic SmallCap – 21.28%
PB ASEAN Dividend – 20.22%
HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 19.57%
PB Growth – 18.33%
PRUglobal basics – 17.93%
HwangDBS Glo Emerging Markets – 17.84%
AmGlobal Agribusiness – 17.84%
Public Regional Sector – 16.84%
CIMB Principal Small Cap – 16.60%
AMB Value Trust – 16.46%
OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 16.16%
CIMB Islamic Equity – 16.11%
CIMB Principal Equity Growth & Income – 16.10%
Public Islamic Opportunities – 15.94%
PB Asia Equity – 15.25%
CIMB Islamic DALI Equity – 15.23%

3 Year Return Ranking: (Annualized Return Stated)

OSK-UOB Smart Treasure – 38.62%
CMS Islamic – 34.98%
HLG Industrial and Tech Sector – 34.88%
OSK-UOB Emerg Oppty – 33.09%
PB Growth – 32.65%
AMB Value Trust – 32.16%
Public Aggressive Growth – 32.07%
Public SmallCap – 31.13%
Manulife Equity – 30.96%
AMB Ethical Trust – 30.46%
MAAKL Progress – 30.14%
CIMB Islamic DALI Equity – 29.78%
CIMB Principal Equity – 29.60%
Uni Aggressive 29.34%
CIMB Principal Equity Growth & Income – 28.62%
CIMB Principal Equity Aggressive 1 – 28.48%
MAAKL Value – 28.15%
CIMB Islamic Equity – 28.06%
OSK-UOB Small Cap Opportunity – 27.88%
CIMB Principal Equity Aggressive 2 – 27.78%

Source: Lipper

Financial Planning Talk (1): What is Financial Planning?

2008-06-17T23:32:00.001+08:00

Personal financial planning is the process of achieving financial freedom or our financial goals through the proper management of our finances. The aim of the personal financial planning is to evaluate our current finance status and decide which investment mode is suitable for us to achieve financial freedom. In simple word, personal financial planning helps us to achieve our financial goals from where we are today. Personal financial planning consists of six major components: cash flow management, insurance, investments, income tax management, retirement planning, and estate management.

The general guideline for personal financial planning consists of six steps. First, we need to assess our current financial status to understand better our current ability. The most common way of assessment is through our personal balance sheet and income statement. Thus, we have a clearer picture what kind of assets or liabilities that we have, and how much is our income, expenditure and net income. After that, we should set target or goals. In other word, the goal is the situation where we achieve financial freedom.

By knowing our current financial status and financial goals, we need to develop a proper financial plan. This financial plan should consist of cash flow management (budgeting), insurances, investments, estate management, income tax management, and retirement planning. After having a plan, there is the most important stage in a successful financial planning, which is implementation. Discipline is much needed to implement the plan effectively.

The world is changing while time past. Things change very fast, so that our plan also needs to be changed accordingly. Periodically monitoring the progress and revising the plan and goals can make sure we achieve financial freedom eventually.

So, do you have any financial plan? If no, you can think about it and come out one financial plan that suits you.

Invest Early or Invest Late?

2008-06-13T23:27:00.009+08:00

These 2 tables show that the difference between starting investment early and starting investment late. Assuming that the annual return of the investment is 8%:

Mr. A invests RM1200 every year for 10 years, but Mr. B wants to enjoy life first, so he plans to invest RM1200 every year for 20 years on 11th year onwards. In the 30th year, Mr. A has around 40% more than Mr. B, although Mr. A just invests for 10 years while Mr. B invests for 20 years.

What happen if Mr. B still wants to enjoy life first, and he said that he will have higher income after 10 years and he is able to invest double of Mr. A’s investment?

We can see from the table, Mr. B invest RM2400 every year for 10 years on 11th year onwards. In 30th year, Mr. A still has slightly more than what Mr. B gains.

Time is very valuable and it cannot be bought using money. From the calculation above, we can conclude that time is a very important aspect for the investment to grow. The compounding effect is significant. Investing earlier definitely generate more money for you compared to investing later.

Is Retirement Too Far from us?

2008-06-12T23:59:00.003+08:00

Many people especially youngster have a perception that retirement is too far from us and retirement planning only needs to be done when we enter 50s. This is not correct! Once we start work and earn money, we should plan for our retirement. Traditionally, EPF (Employee Provident Fund) is one of the major sources for our retirement fund. However, in this high inflation era, EPF is no longer enough for our retirement life. We need to get alternative to prepare for our retirement fund.

Since EPF is not enough for our retirement life, we should look for alternative. Saving is another method to fund our retirement life, but if you just put your saving into bank FD (Fixed Deposits), how much interest you can earn? Most of the banks now offer 3.7% interest per annum for FD. 3.7% is obviously lower than the inflation rate. After the recent fuel price hike, inflation this year is estimated to increase to 4-5%. Your money in bank FD is actually losing value in terms of purchasing power.

So, we should save money every month since we start work, and invest the money into investment tools that are suitable for us. Regardless what kind of investment tools, time is a very important aspect. If you invest in properties, the properties need time to appreciate. If you invest in stock market, your stocks need time to grow as companies need time to grow and generate profits. Any kind of investment need time to grow, and the magic of compounding effect will make your investment grow faster and faster in a long run.

Obviously, if we want to prepare a sufficient fund for our retirement, we need to start planning fast. Earlier you start to plan, higher the chance you can be successful, and more fund you can get for your retirement. Very soon, I will show you the difference between start invest early and start invest late.

DO NOT hope that your children will take care of you financially in future. Nowadays, we get married late and when we retire, normally our children just come out to work or not even work yet. They do not even afford to support themselves financially. PLAN FOR YOUR RETIREMENT FUND ASAP!!!

Why Financial Planning is Important?

2008-06-05T22:19:00.007+08:00

What is the role of money in your life? Do you realize that life is closely related to money and it will be a difficult life without money? When I am in secondary school, I never think of the importance of money and financial planning. At that moment, I just think that getting a job which I like and enjoy without considering the salary. However, I face the reality of this cruel society when graduate from university. We need to spend so much and we just have income once a month. Then, I realize the importance of money.

It is really a bit weird that, we learn so many things during our school day or even our university life, but no single teacher teaching us about managing the money and financial planning. Our parents and teachers always ask us to study hard so that we can get a high paid job in the future. They ask us to earn more income, but did not teach us how to manage the money. In fact, there are so many high income persons nowadays are in credit card debt. So, to achieve financial freedom, the most important aspect is not how much you earn, but how much you save from your income.

Maybe you will ask, do you mean that I can achieve financial freedom if I save money every month? I will answer you, NO. However, if you do not save every month but spend all your income every month, definitely you cannot get rich or financial freedom. Having a good financial plan is the only way to achieve financial freedom.

How to define financial freedom? I believe everybody has their own definition of financial freedom. Some may say they want to have 10millions, some may say they want to have sufficient passive income every month, and some even may say they want to start a business and get the business public listed. So, we should set our target or goal for our financial plan, which means we achieve financial freedom. For me, my definition is free of debt, maintaining the quality of life after retired by having passive income equivalent to my income before retirement, and having 1million worth cash or equities investment.

Financial planning is not a subject in school, and in eastern countries, normally parents also will not talk much about money to us. That is the reason why so many people are in credit card debt and according to EPF (Employee Provident Fund), 70% of the retirees spend all of their EPF withdrawal within three years after they retired. People do not know how to manage their money and spend more than what they earn. Even high income person, most of them do not actually save money, and just think that having a car and house is enough in their life, but they do not think far ahead that how they going to survive after they retired and have no income at all.

In fact, financial planning is so important for us in order to achieve financial freedom and have a great retirement life. And, this is the purpose I write this blog to share with you all especially youngsters about personal financial planning. Let us go towards financial freedom together!