What's wrong with Malaysia in terms of GDP per Capita? (2012)

Addressing the issue, which Finance Malaysia thinks was critical at a time of globalization heats up, Malaysia needs to formulate and take action immediately without much hesitation. But, before we jump into action, we need to know the root of the problem. Right?

Exactly, we must find out the reason why we left behind other countries in terms of GDP per capita, which refers to the country's gross domestic products at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita. According to Wikipedia, it was the value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given year divided by the average population for the same year.

Why not using nominal GDP to measure national wealth?

Comparison of national wealth are also frequently made on the basis of nominal GDP, which does not reflect differences in the cost of living. Using a PPP basis is arguably more useful when comparing generalized differences in living standards on the whole between nations because PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries, rather than using just exchange rates which may distort the real differences in income.

Singapore is now the richest country in the world.
Where is Malaysia?

New Fund: AmGlobal Sukuk

After AmMutual's asia pacific dividend fund early this month, AmIslamic also don't want to lag behind its sister company by introducing AmGlobal Sukuk. The Fund aims to provide capital appreciation by investing primarily in Sukuk both locally and globally.

To achieve the investment objective, the Fund will undertake active management to enhance and optimize returns from investing in sovereign, quasi-sovereign and corporate Sukuk. The sectorial weightings may be adjusted to maximize the performance. There is no minimum rating for a Sukuk purchased or held by the Fund.

What's so special about this Sukuk Fund?

New Fund: CIMB Islamic Al-Azzam Equity Fund

Launched on the same day with AmMutual new fund, the CIMB Islamic Al-Azzam Equity Fund is an open-ended fund that aims to achieve consistent capital growth over the medium to long term.

The asset allocation strategy for this Fund is as follows: 

• between 70% to 98% (both inclusive) of the Fund’s NAV will be invested in Shariah-compliant Malaysian equities; and 
• up to 30% of the Fund’s NAV in other Shariah-compliant investments and Shariah-compliant liquid assets, with at least 2% of the Fund’s NAV to be maintained in Shariah-compliant liquid assets.

For this Fund, the investment into Sukuk must satisfy a minimum credit rating of “A3” or “P2” by RAM or equivalent rating by MARC; “BBB” by S&P or equivalent rating by Moody’s or Fitch. In line with its objective, the investment  strategy and policy of the Fund is to rebalance the portfolio to suit market conditions in order to reduce short-term volatility and provide consistency in capital growth.


More on Investment Strategy...

New Fund: AmAdvantage Asia Pacific ex Japan Dividend

Wanted to diversify your investment portfolio especially on dividend based investments? You may look into this newly launched fund by AmMutual named AmAdvantage Asia Pacific ex-Japan Dividend Fund, a fund managed by AmInvestment Services Berhad.

The Fund is a feeder fund, which will invest into the  HSBC Global Investment Funds  – Asia Pacific ex Japan Equity High Dividend (the “Target Fund”), a sub-fund of the  HSBC Global Investment Funds domiciled in Luxembourg. The Fund seeks to provide income and long term capital growth by investing in the Target Fund which has an investment focus on Asia Pacific ex Japan equities.

The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing a minimum of 95% of the Fund’s NAV in the distribution share class in the HSBC Global Investment Funds – Asia Pacific ex Japan Equity High Dividend at all times. This implies that the Fund has a passive strategy.

More about the Target Fund