KUALA LUMPUR (March 20): Public Bank Bhd’s (fundamental: 2.8; valuation: 1.8) wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual Bhd, has launched a new fund, the Public Islamic Enterprises Equity Fund (PIENTEF).

In a statement today, Public Mutual said the fund, which was launched on March 18, 2015, will invest 75% to 98% of its net asset value (NAV) in the largest 50 Shariah-compliant companies in terms of market capitalisation listed on Bursa Securities.

The balance of the fund’s NAV will be invested in sukuk and Islamic liquid assets which include Islamic money market instruments, Islamic investment accounts and Islamic deposits, it said.

Public Mutual said PIENTEF offers investors the opportunity to achieve potential capital growth by focusing on larger capitalised companies that have established track records.

Public Mutual chief executive officer Yeoh Kim Hong said the prospects for large corporations are expected to remain resilient, as they are better positioned to withstand challenging economic conditions due to their economies of scale, stronger financial resources, size and established market shares.

With a foreign market exposure of 25% of its NAV, PIENTEF provides the opportunity to invest in a wider range of stocks and capitalise on the growth potential of large cap companies in selected foreign markets, which include South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and other permitted markets.  

The fund is suitable for medium- to long-term investors with aggressive risk-reward temperaments, the statement further read.

The initial issue price of PIENTEF is 25 sen per unit, during the 21-day initial offer period from March 18 to April 7, 2015.

The minimum initial investment is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with more than 100 unit trust funds under management. As at end of January 2015, the total NAV of the funds managed by the Company was RM63.7 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)