PETALING JAYA: Manulife Investment Management (M) Bhd today launched the Manulife Global Multi-Asset Diversified Income Fund to Standard Chartered Malaysia clients with a targeted gross distribution yield of between 7% to 8% per annum.
The fund aims to provide income generated from a diverse range of global income sources, including traditional and non-traditional income assets such as securities, real estate investment trusts (REIT), and option writing. The fund also is designed to provide a stable net asset value, cushioning the downside as non-traditional assets have a relatively lower correlation with other asset classes. It aims to distribute all or part of its distributable income quarterly. The fund is suitable for investors with medium- to long-term investment horizon.
The fund will invest at least 95% of the fund’s net asset value (NAV) into the Manulife Global Fund – Global Multi-Asset Diversified Income Fund, and the remaining NAV of the fund will be in liquid assets such as money market instruments or deposits.
It is now available for subscription in ringgit hedged-class and US dollar class with a minimum initial investment of RM5,000 or US$5,000 and a minimum additional investment of RM1,000 or US$1,000 via Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia.
Manulife CEO Jason Chong said having a competitive, stable income becomes prevalent for investors in 2022, as ongoing geopolitical developments and pandemic-related supply chain distortions will put further pressure on global growth and corporate earnings.
“We believe an income-focused global multi-asset investment approach that is complemented with non-traditional asset classes, could provide an additional layer of yield, while also potentially improving risk-adjusted returns.”
Manulife head of retail wealth distribution Ng Chze How said amid market uncertainty and volatility, it is more important than ever to capture a breadth of naturally yielding income sources that will meet investors’ objectives, without sacrificing the potential for capital growth.
“Our unconstrained approach minimises reliance on equity appreciation and primarily seeks natural high yield through fixed income and option writing strategy.
“At the moment, key exposures for the fund include US high yield and US dollar emerging market credits, as defaults remain well below long-term averages and, in particular, Asia continues to offer modest credit risk premiums. Complementing this with an options writing strategy enables further yield harvesting through the premium collection for the fund,” Ng said.
Standard Chartered Malaysia managing director and head of the consumer, private and business banking Sammeer Sharma said the fund grants individual clients access to a non-traditional income approach (namely, covered calls and collateralised puts) that was previously inaccessible to them.
