rightcoastconservative

First of all, Happy Merdeka to all Malaysians. Yup, we love peace and prosperity as mentioned by our beloved prime minister. 55th years of independence would not come true without unity of people from various races. No doubt, we Malaysians are from various background. Yet, we have come together, good or bad, to shape our nation until what we already achieve today. Anyway, Finance Malaysia hopes our nation can transform itself by realizing the 2020 vision "Developed Nation". Just when everyone was celebrating today, I came across one news titled " Mat Rempit to help fight crime " and my writing instinct once again being activated. Fighting crime by collaborating with Mat Rempit? This is the first reaction I believed many readers would asked!!! Don't we know that Mat Rempit were those who rides their motorcycle dangerously? Don't we know that Mat Rempit were those riders that endangered the life of other road users? And, I really don't know how and why our...

Addressing the issue, which Finance Malaysia thinks was critical at a time of globalization heats up, Malaysia needs to formulate and take action immediately without much hesitation. But, before we jump into action, we need to know the root of the problem. Right? Exactly, we must find out the reason why we left behind other countries in terms of GDP per capita , which refers to the country's gross domestic products at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita. According to Wikipedia, it was the value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given year divided by the average population for the same year. Why not using nominal GDP to measure national wealth? Comparison of national wealth are also frequently made on the basis of nominal GDP, which does not reflect differences in the cost of living. Using a PPP basis is arguably more useful when comparing generalized differences in living standards on the whole between nations because PPP takes into account the re...

After AmMutual's asia pacific dividend fund early this month, AmIslamic also don't want to lag behind its sister company by introducing AmGlobal Sukuk . The Fund aims to provide capital appreciation by investing primarily in Sukuk both locally and globally. To achieve the investment objective, the Fund will undertake active management to enhance and optimize returns from investing in sovereign, quasi-sovereign and corporate Sukuk. The sectorial weightings may be adjusted to maximize the performance. There is no minimum rating for a Sukuk purchased or held by the Fund. What's so special about this Sukuk Fund? Value-add of the Fund is derived from active tactical duration management, yield curve positioning and credit spread arbitrage . Credit spread arbitrage and yield curve positioning is part of relative value approach that involves analysis of general economic and market conditions and the use of models to analyze and compare expected returns as well a...

The taxpayer stepped up to the plate in the fall of 2008 to underwrite General Motors and FNMA and FMAC requiring a commitment of $ 250 billion plus.  We are now approaching round two.  Government Motors, as most people now call GM, is rapidly on a glide path to another bankruptcy, which will cost taxpayers approximately $ 50 billion and require, at a minimum, another $ 25 billion to protect the unions' juicy benefits.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have an unlimited lifeline and their losses, now over $ 200 billion, are essentially unlimited.  But both GM and FNMA and FMAC have created many more millionaires as government-appointed bureaucrats, lawyers and accountants feast at the taxpayer's expense.  This is what happens when the government gets involved. Europe has its own version of this.  Propping up banks in Spain, France and Germany has simply made matters worse in the Eurozone and has weakened, not strengthened, the banks. GM and Fannie and Freddie and...

Much of the political debate today is simply a question of whether one thinks capitalism is a good idea or not.  Many westerners seem to believe that the profit motive is fundamentally evil. Defenders of free enterprise are often thought to be morally suspect.  This is where the real struggle is being waged in today's politics. The discussion about Bain Capital brings into sharp focus the debate on the merits of capitalism.  Should people risk their own capital to make money or should, instead, the government take people's wealth and 'make investments' with it.  That is what this debate is really all about. A similar debate about free markets rages about health care.  Should a panel of educated and enlightened people appointed by polticians decide on your health care or should you purchase the health care and the insurance that you need and make such decisions yourself with consultation with health care professionals?  That some people are poor seems to wei...

Launched on the same day with AmMutual new fund, the CIMB Islamic Al-Azzam Equity Fund is an open-ended fund that aims to achieve consistent capital growth over the medium to  long term. The asset allocation strategy for this Fund is as follows:  between 70% to 98% (both inclusive) of the Fund’s NAV will be invested in Shariah-compliant Malaysian equities; and  up to 30% of the Fund’s NAV in other Shariah-compliant investments and Shariah-compliant liquid assets, with at least 2% of the Fund’s NAV to be maintained in Shariah-compliant liquid assets. For this Fund, the investment into Sukuk must satisfy a minimum credit rating of “A3” or “P2” by RAM or equivalent rating by MARC; “BBB” by S&P or equivalent rating by Moody’s or Fitch. In line with its objective, the investment  strategy and policy of the Fund is to rebalance the portfolio to suit market conditions in order to reduce short-term volatility and provide consistency in capital gro...

Wanted to diversify your investment portfolio especially on dividend based investments? You may look into this newly launched fund by AmMutual named AmAdvantage Asia Pacific ex-Japan Dividend Fund, a  fund managed by AmInvestment Services Berhad. The Fund is a feeder fund, which will invest into the   HSBC Global Investment Funds  – Asia  Pacific ex Japan Equity High Dividend (the “Target Fund”), a sub-fund of the  HSBC Global  Investment Funds domiciled in Luxembourg.  The Fund seeks to provide income and long term capital growth by investing in the Target Fund  which has an investment focus on Asia Pacific ex Japan equities. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing a minimum of 95% of the  Fund’s NAV in the distribution share class in the HSBC Global Investment Funds – Asia Pacific  ex Japan Equity High Dividend at all times. This implies that the Fund has a passive strategy. More about the Target Fund HSB...