KUALA LUMPUR (July 2): Pacific Mutual Fund Bhd, an investment management company under the OCBC Group, said it remains positive on the markets, but expects greater market volatility ahead for the second half of 2018 (2H18).

In a statement today, Pacific Mutual chief executive officer and executive director Teh Chi-cheun said, "Pacific Mutual remains positive on global markets although we are still less aggressive than last year, as we expect the volatility in global markets to continue."

"Global and regional growth prospects remain intact despite global headwinds from the risk of a trade war and also higher US interest rates," said Teh, adding that expected regional growth prospects are better than that of developed economies as synchronized global growth has stopped with major economies such as Europe, China and Japan showing moderating economic data.

"Domestically, our view is 'constructive'. The implementation of new government policies and the redistribution of asset and management talent may cause some volatility in equity markets.

"We are looking beyond these short-term concerns and are focussed on Malaysia's long-term growth which remains fundamentally intact," he added.

Meanwhile, Pacific Mutual also announced income distributions amounting to RM5.7 million for investors of six of its funds.

The company declared annual income distributions of 2.5 sen per unit for Pacific Millennium Fund, three sen per unit for Pacific Recovery Fund, and three sen per unit for Pacific SELECT Balance Fund.

Pacific Mutual also declared quarterly distribution of 0.4 sen per unit for Pacific Cash Fund.

Additionally, monthly distributions were declared for Pacific Cash Deposit Fund at 0.3 sen per unit and Pacific OCBC Cash Fund at 0.25 sen per unit for the month of June 2018.