Grexit and China market crash, how did Unit Trust funds perform during this period?

Crisis...crisis and more crisis!
Over the past one month, we've witness two major crisis which have rocked the equity markets all over the world.

Crisis 1 : Grexit
The first crisis begin on worries that Greece might default on their debt and eventually exit Europe. Failed negotiations and the calling of a referendum by Greek Prime Minister created panic especially in Europe, America and Japan markets.

Photo from Washingtontimes.com

While there is still no resolution of the Greece crisis as of time of writing, there's hope that a deal will be struck between Greece and their lenders by today.

Can a deal be struck?

Crisis 2 : China Stock Market Crash
Crisis number 2 is happening in China. If you've followed the news for the past couple of weeks, you should be well informed of the fact that the China equity markets have been bleeding points over the past one month..

Greed, euphoria and unfounded believe that the market will go higher are the catalysts that drove many retailers to invest/trade/speculate using money they do not have. Panic selling by China retailers whom borrow heavily to invest in the stock market have caused the market in China to "crash".

Her expression tells it all. Picture from usatoday.com

The spillover effect of the crash has also dragged down majority of Asia markets especially Hong Kong. As of date of writing, the regulators at China are imposing multiple measures to stop the stock market from further combustion. The latest move by China regulators to ban major shareholders from selling their stock holdings/stakes for the next six months seemed to have temporarily stem the crash.

How did Unit Trust Performed During These 2 Crisis?
With two crisis running amok in the equity markets over the past couple of months, I'm pretty sure most unit trust funds suffered losses. However I was rather pretty curious if any unit trust fund posted gain during this period? In order to find out, I went over Morningstar to check out the details..

IME Tip : I highly recommend everyone to refer to the Morningstar website when researching on unit trust funds. Apart from being comprehensive, you can also access all information absolutely free!

What went up?
Shown below are the top 5 unit trust categories which generated positive gains over a 3 month period (Data as of 30th June 2015):

Top 5 Gainers : 3-mth Return as of 30th June 2015

Rank 1 : Category RMB Bond
Funds listed under this category:
1. United RMB Income & Growth Fund MYR Class

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +5.84%
• Fund provider : UOB Asset Management (Malaysia) Berhad
• Available online @ eUnittrust : No

2. United RMB Income & Growth RMB

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +4.45%
• Fund provider : UOB Asset Management (Malaysia) Berhad
• Available online @ eUnittrust : No

Rank 2 : Category Islamic Global Bond
Funds listed under this category:
1. AmDynamic Sukuk

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +1.30%
• Fund provider : AmInvestment Services Berhad
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

2. AmGlobal Sukuk

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +4.65%
• Fund provider : AmInvestment Services Berhad
• Available online @ eUnittrust : No

Rank 3 : US Mid-Cap Equity
Funds listed under this category:
1. RHB US Focus Equity

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +2.10%
• Fund provider : RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes
• Listed under as low as 0% Sales Charge Promotion : Yes

Rank 4 : US Large-Cap Blend Equity
Funds listed under this category:
1. Manulife Investment US Equity

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +4.68%
• Fund provider : Manulife Asset Management Services Berhad
• Available online @ eUnittrust : No

2. RHB-OSK-GS US Equity Fund

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : -0.28%
• Fund provider : RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes
• Listed under as low as 0% Sales Charge Promotion : Yes

Rank 5 : US Large-Cap Growth Equity
Funds listed under this category:
1. Franklin US Opportunities MYR

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : -1.28%
• Fund provider : Franklin Templeton Investments
• Available online @ eUnittrust : No

2. Franklin US Opportunities USD

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +2.90%
• Fund provider : Franklin Templeton Investments
• Available online @ eUnittrust : No

What went down?

Here are the top 5 fund categories that lost the most during these 2 crisis:

Top 5 Losers : 3-mth Return as of 30th June 2015

Now each category has a list of specific funds under them (similar to the top 5 gainers list). The problem is that each category has quite a number of funds. Therefore instead of listing down all the funds in each category, I'm going to just list down funds that are currently available to be invested online.

Tip : The reason I am listing only funds available online is simple. If you as an investor believe that one of the listed categories has a chance of recovering from recent losses, why not invest into funds from that category at lower sales charge? By doing so, a recovery by the invested fund is quickly translated into profit for you.

Rank 1 : Category China Equity
Funds available online under this category:

1. RHB Big Cap China Enterprise

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +1.92%
• Fund provider : RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

Rank 2 : Hong Kong Equity
Funds available online under this category:

-None-

Rank 3 : Indonesia Equity
Funds available online under this category:

1. Eastspring Investment Indonesia Equity MY

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : -11.18%
• Fund provider : Eastspring Investments Berhad
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

2. RHB Indonesia Equity Growth

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : -8.38%
• Fund provider : RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

Rank 4 : BRIC Equity
Tip : BRIC refers to Brazil, Russia, India and China
Funds available online under this category:

1. RHB-GS BRIC Equity

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : -6.06%
• Fund provider : RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

Rank 5 : Category Greater China Equity
Funds available online under this category:

1. Manulife China Equity 

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : -10.16%
• Fund provider : Manulife Asset Management Services Berhad
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

2. Pacific Focus China

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : -6.83%
• Fund provider : Pacific Mutual
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

3. RHB Golden Dragon

• 3-mth Return as of 7 July 2015 : +5.95%
• Fund provider : RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd
• Available online @ eUnittrust : Yes

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That's all for this post!
Cheers and Happy Investing!

P.S :

1. If you have any inquiries or questions, feel free to email me at shanesee03@gmail.com

2. If you find this post is useful, do share it with your family and friends via Facebook

3. Don't forget to LIKE our Facebook page too!

FIMM's Free Unit Trust Investment Seminar - August 2015

Good news everyone!

Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FIMM) will be organizing two FREE public seminars this coming August 2015! 

Why is it FREE?

This is in line with FIMM's objective to conduct Investor Education programme as one of the mediums to explain and reach out to the public on understanding of unit trusts and the benefits of it.

What, who, when and where?

Seminar 1 (Kota Kinabalu)

Title : What are Unit Trusts, Benefits of Unit Trusts Investing & Understanding Its Risks

Date : 1st August 2015 (Saturday)

Location : Ming Garden Hotel, Kota Kinabalu

Time : 9:00am to 12.30pm

Speaker : Jit Singh

Language : English

Seminar 2 (Kuantan)

Title : Pelaburan Berasaskan Syariah

Date : 8th August 2015 (Saturday)

Location : Vistana Hotel, Kuantan

Time : 9:00am to 12.30pm

Speaker : Khamarul Hashim

Language : Bahasa Malaysia

Speakers' profile

Both Mr. Jit Singh and Mr. Khamarul are experienced speakers in the field of investment and wealth building. Check out their profiles by clicking HERE.

How to register for the seminar?

Call FIMM at 03-2093 2600

or 

email FIMM at corpcomm@fimm.com.my

Important : Registration ends 5 days before the seminar date

Why should you attend the seminar?

Why should you attend Seminar 1?

• If you are new to unit trust investment, this seminar provides you with an introduction to unit trust.
• The presentation title has the point "Understanding Its Risks" in it. This is a plus point for me because most seminars do not like to speak about risk moreover to include this topic in the presentation title. For this seminar to cover this topic on risk goes to show that this is in fact an educational seminar.
• The speaker is a highly qualified individual specially engaged by FIMM.
• The seminar is FREE. What more can you ask?

Why should you attend Seminar 2?

• This is a specially organized to provide awareness for the Muslim community on the topic of syariah based investment.
• I believe the speaker will cover on the concept of unit trust investing and how it is compliant to the syariah laws.
• The speaker is a highly qualified individual specially engaged by FIMM.
• Once again this seminar is also FREE!

My personal take:

I laud FIMM's efforts in conducting free seminars to create awareness on unit trust investing among the public. This is somewhat similar with IME's goal to educate readers on how to invest and manage their own unit trust investments. 

Due to the similarity of our goal, I approached FIMM with the intention of helping them to promote their seminars for free. Fortunately after numerous email correspondence with them, FIMM gave Invest Made Easy blog the approval to help promote their seminars and events. 

I believe this is the first time FIMM is reaching out to the public via blog posting. Therefore in order to prove the effectiveness of promoting FIMM seminars via Invest Made Easy blog, I would like to seek your favor to mention "Invest Made Easy blog" when registering for the seminar. 

Last but not least, do share this post with your family and friends (especially those that seek knowledge on unit trust investing). As the sayings goes, sharing is caring!

Cheers and Happy Investing!

Top 10 Performing Greater China Unit Trust Funds as of 1st July 2015

Fund Category : Greater China

The best performing Greater China funds are compared according to these 4 criteria:

a. Ranking according to 5 Year Annualized returns

b. 4 weeks fund Gain/Loss ranking

c. Comparison against the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Index

d. Ranking according to Year to Date (YTD) returns

a) Top 10 funds ranked according to 5 Year Annualized Returns

Top 10 Unit Trust Funds Greater China (ranked by annualized returns)

5 Years Annualised Ranked 1 (Non-Islamic) 

- CIMB-Principal Greater China Equity Fund (+11.03% per annum)

5 Years Annualised Ranked 1 (Islamic Equity) 

- Eastspring Investments Dinasti Equity Fund (+8.47% per annum)

b) 4 Weeks Gain/Loss Ranking Table for Category Greater China Funds:

Fund Name	YTD as of 28th May 2015	YTD as of 1st July 2015	4 Weeks Gain / Loss (%)	4 Weeks Gain/ Loss Rankings	Previous 4 Weeks Gain/Loss Rankings
CIMB-Principal Greater China Equity Fund	24.53	20.66	-3.87	10	1
Manulife Investment - China Value Fund	26.9	23.09	-3.81	9	3
PB China Pacific Equity Fund	21.34	21.05	-0.29	1	9
Pacific Focus China Fund	19.36	17.81	-1.55	6	4
Eastspring Investments Dinasti Equity Fund	17.92	17.08	-0.84	4	7
Public China Select Fund	21.26	20.54	-0.72	3	5
PB China Titans Fund	18.59	17.3	-1.29	5	8
Public China Ittikal Fund	12.03	11.4	-0.63	2	10
MAAKL Greater China Fund	25.18	22.22	-2.96	7	2
AmIslamic Greater China	11.17	8.02	-3.15	8	6
AVERAGE 4 WEEKS GAIN/LOSS (%)			-1.91

Best Performing Fund over 4 weeks period: 

• Non Syariah : PB China Pacific Equity Fund (Loss : -0.29%)
• Syariah : Eastspring Investments Dinasti Equity Fund (Loss : -0.84%)

Worst Performing Fund over 4 weeks period:

• Non Syariah : CIMB-Principal Greater China Equity Fund (Loss : -3.87%)
• Syariah : AmIslamic Greater China Fund (Loss : -3.15%)

c) Comparison against the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Index between 28 May 2015 to 1 July 2015

SSE Index (28 May 2015 - 1 July 2015)

SSE Index (%) Gain/Loss : -17.97%

Comparison With:

Average Top 10 Unit Trust Equity (%) Gain/Loss : 

(Loss : -1.91% - Out performed the SSE Index)

Non Syariah Best Performing Fund:

PB China Pacific Equity Fund : (Loss : -0.29% - Out performed the SSE Index)

Syariah Best Performing Fund:

Eastspring Investments Dinasti Equity Fund : (Loss : -0.84% - Out performed the SSE Index)

d) Top 10 funds ranked According to Year To Date (YTD) returns:

Top 10 Unit Trust Fund - Greater China (Year To Date)

YTD Ranked 1 (Non-Islamic) 

- Manulife Investment China Value Fund (YTD : +26.9%)

YTD Annualised Ranked 1 (Islamic Equity) 

- Eastspring Investments Dinasti Equity Fund (YTD : +17.92%)

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For first time readers:

• If this is your first time reading this review, do check out "A Guide Towards Understanding Unit Trust Performance Table". This guide will help you understand the review better.
• If you are new to unit trust investing, I'll be more then happy to share with you on how to get started on Unit Trust Investing. Just drop me an email at shanesee03@gmail.com.

By the way, don't miss out on the ongoing Sales Charge Promotion!

There is an ongoing promotion for investors to invest for as low as 0% sales charge! The promotion runs from 26th June 2015 till 31st July 2015. The fantastic thing is that some of the top performing funds from this review are also listed in the promotion. They consist of:

Greater China Funds listed under the "Invest for as low as 0% Sales Charge Promotion"	Status as of 1st July 2015
Eastspring Investments Dinasti Equity Fund	No.1 ranked Islamic fund over 5 Years Annualized Return

For more information about the 0% Sales Charge Promotion as well as how you can start investing, just click HERE.

Cheers and Happy Investing!

Read other Top 10 Performing Unit Trust reviews:

• Top 10 Performing Equity Malaysia Unit Trust Funds as of 1st July 2015
• Top 10 Performing Asia excluding Japan Unit Trust Funds as of 1st July 2015