This publication brings latest news of product launches in the Asia-Pacific region.

CIMB-Principal Asset Management, the Malaysia-headquartered firm, has launched a fund targeting capital growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

The fund is called the CIMB-Principal Asia Pacific Dynamic Growth Fund; it targets an annual return of 9 per cent over the medium to long term. The managers aim to get RM500 million ($363 million) of subscriptions by the end of this year.

“The fund adopts a flexible and dynamic asset allocation strategy, where under general market conditions, we will invest in equities, while under adverse market conditions, the fund may invest all or a substantial portion of its assets in debt instruments, money market instruments and/or deposits to achieve the investment objective,” Munirah Khairuddin, chief executive of CIMB-Principal, said in a statement late last week.  

“The pace of change is accelerating in Asia-Pacific, and equities in this region have matured significantly. While some parts of the world are still struggling to find growth, Asia-Pacific presents significant opportunities due to its growing population and high urbanisation rate. The emergence of the urban middle class has created a huge increase in private consumption and infrastructure spending, which are important contributors to the region’s vibrant growth,” Munirah said.

The fund is an open-ended vehicle offering a number of currency share classes: the Malaysian ringgit, Australian dollar, Singapore dollar or the US dollar. The fund is offered in Malaysia for subscription with a minimum initial investment of RM1,000, S$1,000, $1,000, or A$1,000 respectively. 

Investors can purchase the fund from unit trust consultants of CIMB-Principal (CWA), CIMB Bank and Alliance Bank. Other banks will be added soon, the firm said. HSBC (Malaysia) Trustee has been appointed as the trustee of the fund.

To date, CIMB-Principal has a total of 63 unit trust funds (of which 19 are Shariah-compliant), 19 wholesale funds, 10 private retirement scheme funds and two exchange-traded funds.