New Fund: OSK-UOB Absolute Return Fund

With market continuously rotating between "risk-off" and "risk-on", an absolute return mandate with the adoption of a dynamic asset allocation approach would be a good vehicle to ride out the volatility. With the fixed income market having outperformed over the last 5 years, there is a high possibility that good quality equities - those with earnings growth and clarity supporting healthy dividend payouts would find favour.

This is a wholesale fund which aims to achieve medium to long term (3 - 7 years) capital appreciation through investments in equity and equity related securities of companies, and exchange traded funds with the potential to deliver total return in excess of the fund's benchmark return (8% growth per annum).

Investment Strategy

Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) will the focus of this fund, either through equity or equity related or exchange traded funds. The manager views the region as a vibrant economic growth region supported by factors such as favorable demographics, improving per capita incomes, positive foreign direct investment flows, and vast natural resources.

The strategy is to identify such investment opportunities in its early phase and select companies with strong fundamentals and attractive valuations to capitalize on its growth. Undervalued securities are uncovered through intensive and independent fundamental research.

A Barbell approach - buying dividend yielders coupled with growth (and cyclical) & value stocks would provide a combination of steady cash flows and capital appreciation. This new fund to some extent would allow the portfolio managers to focus more on stock picking without ignoring developments at the macro level.

Meanwhile, the fund's asset allocation is totally flexible between equity and fixed income / money market, depending on economic conditions.

Click here to download the fund's "Information Memorandum"