Eastspring Launches Islamic Small-Cap Fund

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 -- Eastspring Investments Bhd has introduced its Islamic small capital (small-cap) fund, which will concentrate on shariah-compliant domestic stocks with potential returns of medium to long term.

Eastspring Chief Executive Officer Raymond Tang Chee Kin said to date, shariah funds under management in the local market recorded an eight per cent growth at RM96.7 billion and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia small-cap shariah index return was recorded at 73.83 per cent compared with the 39.56 per cent return on the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI.

"Even though the returns of shariah index is slightly lower than the conventional stocks returns at 82.16 per cent, we can see the gains from shariah counters improving, " he told reporters after launching the Islamic Small-Cap Fund here today.

Tang said a minimum of 70 per cent of the Net Asset Value (NAV) would go to shariah-compliant equities and equity-related securities and a minimum of one per cent of asset allocation would be channeled to Islamic deposits or Islamic liquid assets.

"The small-cap segment is underresearched and underservingly traded beyond its intrinsic value, so Eastspring will use this opportunity to unearth these small-cap companies and exploit the pricing inefficiencies, " he added.

The initial issue price for the fund is 50 sen per unit for 21 days initial offer period beginning today. The minimum initial investment is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

As at March this year, the funds managed by the company stood at RM40 billion.

-- BERNAMA