MONEY SPECIALIST

The outlook of Malaysia unit trust sector is expected to be robust this year in 2010. The sector is seen to continue its strong and rapid growth. Investors stand to benefit as different fund management companies enter the market, offering more sophisticated product for investment and diversification.

According to the Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia, despite the global financial and economic crisis the past two years, the local unit trust industry has actually grown. As a percentage to Bursa Malaysia market cap, its total assets under management grew from 14.35% in 2006 to 20.25% in 2008. As at Oct 31, 2009, it stood at 20.34%.

Growth funds, which focuses on companies with significant profit growth potential, are likely to do well this year in line with earnings recovery. However, unit trust investors are encouraged to have a longer-term investment horizon of a minimum of five years, as the equity market can be very volatile. This will help reduce short-term market volatility and enable investors to enjoy a favorable market cycle.

Besides a suitable time horizon, investment decisions should always be based on one’s objective and risk appetite. This will help determine your portfolio allocation. Statistics have proven that 90% of investment returns are attributed to the right asset allocation strategy.

A disciplined regular investment approach (cost-averaging) is recommended as no one can time the market. It takes out the emotional aspect and also lowers the overall investment cost. This approach helps investors avoid common mistakes such as investing when the market is high and redeeming at market lows.

One must also remember to not let complacency set in once a portfolio is performing, as it is equally important to review and rebalance your investment at least twice a year.

Overall, investors’ behaviour in Malaysia has generally matured, with more willing to create a proper diversified portfolio or investment plan to specifically overcome the heightened volatility. Despite the overall market volatility last year, redemptions on a whole have not been alarming, a testament to the maturing investor profile, which is important for the long-term growth of the industry.

It has been awhile since I shoot a video with my digital camera, let alone editing one. I still remember during my Uni days, I created videos as part of PowerPoint presentations. Some videos are funny, while others are dead serious stuffs depending on the topic of the day.

Now, it’s time to relive those moments by shooting video again since an opportunity is presented to me. To promote the new flymas.mobi website for mobile phones, MAS is conducting a video contest. The free flight tickets offered by MAS are just too hard to ignore.

So I got on my thinking cap and came out with the video below. To make the video more interesting, I planted an Easter egg (hidden message). Let’s see if you can find it

After watching the clip, you should give flymas.mobi a try. It’s really easy to book tickets, check arrivals and even check-in with your phone.

Couldn’t find the Easter egg? Here’s a clue: a logo. Enough said…