KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 14): The fund management company i-VCAP Management Sdn Bhd (i-VCAP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ValueCAP Sdn Bhd, has allocated a total of RM8.75 million for the income distribution of its MyETF series of shariah-compliant exchange traded funds (ETFs) for the year ended Dec 31, 2017 (FY17).

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, i-VCAP said MyETF Dow Jones Islamic Market Malaysia Titans 25 (MyETF-DJIM25) and MyETF MSCI-Malaysia Islamic Dividend (MyETF-MMID) unitholders would receive 2.39 sen and 2.81 sen per unit respectively.

Meanwhile, it said MyETF MSCI SEA Islamic Dividend (MyETFMSEAD), which provides exposure to five regional markets, would distribute 1.51 sen per unit to its unitholders.

The entitlement date for the income distribution is on March 5, 2018 and payment is set for March 29, 2018.

The fund manager said global economic numbers were stronger in FY17 supported by synchronised expansion in both the advanced economies as well as emerging markets.

"Although significantly underperforming global equity markets in 2017, the FBMKLCI was up 9.45% after 4 years of losses.

"This growth against a backdrop of underperformance over the past few years is likely due to improving macro data points and increasingly attractive valuations," it said, quoting Bloomberg.

On the global front, total ETF assets continue to grow year-on-year, having increased by 37% to US$4.66 trillion in FY17 from US$3.4 trillion in FY16.

Additionally, for the local ETF market, total assets for ETFs listed on Bursa Malaysia grew to RM1.96 billion in FY17 from RM1.88 billion in FY16 driven by institutional investors who are familiar with ETFs as investment tools through creation and redemption activities in the primary market.

i-VCAP chief executive officer Khairi Shahrin Arief Baki said this year i-VCAP plans to introduce more ETFs covering different asset classes, geographies, or currencies.

"We continually engage and commit in investor awareness initiatives and participate in regulators' roadshows to educate investors on the benefits and opportunities with regard to ETFs.

"This year, we plan to carry out even more activities to raise awareness of ETFs among institutional and retail investors and to promote our Shariah-compliant MyETF Series," he said.

The MyETF series provide investors additional avenues for portfolio diversification, allowing instant access to other markets. ETFs generally have relatively low transaction costs with no sales charge.

At the midday break today, MyETF-DJIM25 and MyETF-MMID dropped 1.5 sen or 1.29% to RM1.15, while MyETFMSEAD and MyETF MSCI Thomson Reuters Asia Pacific Ex-Japan Islamic Agribusiness (METFAPA) remained unchanged.