High dividend equity funds favourite of M'sian investors, says survey

by **Cals** Thu 05 Jun 2014, 03:15

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Bernama

Wednesday, 04 June 2014 17:05

KUALA LUMPUR (June 4): Asian high-dividend equity funds remain one of the most popular vehicles for Malaysian unit trust investors, with 50 per cent of them owning this asset class, a survey shows.

This translates into an increase of five percentage points from last year, says the survey released by Eastspring Investments Bhd today.

This is followed by Asian multi-asset income funds, whose ownership jumped to 43 per cent from 32 per cent, and Asian bonds ownership at 42 per cent, up from last year's 40 per cent.

"The increase in ownership and purchase intention of multi-asset income and high-dividend equities funds across Asian and global markets signals an uplift in inventors' risk appetitive," said Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Yap Siok Hoon, at a press conference to announce the survey results.

Three-hundred Malaysians were polled in March for its "Unit Trust Fund Investor Behaviour Study".

The survey also indicated that investors were starting to look at other global opportunities, particularly for funds from China, Japan and other emerging markets.

"We see more appetite in Japan and China funds as investors diversify their portfolio outside Malaysia," she said.

This is because valuations in China are getting more attractive as the sluggish market performance for the past two to three years had subsided while the Japanese economy was expected to be robust, she said.

However, Malaysian funds were less volatile and offered rewarding returns to investors if they hold onto them over the long-term, Yap added.