Malaysia’s Financial Blogger | Financial Freedom Ideas | imDavidLee.Com

Maybank vs Public Bank Savings Account Interest Rate

Do you know how much interest will you get if you keep your money in your bank savings account nowadays? Someone has asked me which bank savings account work best, MayBank or Public Bank? I told him that basically, all savings accounts are the same. The main purpose is for us to save money only. Without consuming lot of time, I told him that he should open a savings account at a bank, which is convenient for him to do transaction or finding the one that is near to his home. This is because there is slight difference in interest rates.

Here are some of the savings account interest rates obtained from the banks’ latest updated information:

So, from this comparison, you will found that Maybank Basic Savings Account offers better interest which is 0.25% for balance <= RM10,000.

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How To Invest Public Mutual Fund Using EPF?

At first, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank to my friend who is also Malaysia’s Public Mutual Agent - Yeoh Tze Haw as he provides this kind of EPF investment information for me to share with you all.

For those of you who have not invested in unit trust using your EPF, it’s time to invest. EPF themselves uses OUR money to invest in funds to earn returns to pay contributors smaller dividends. Last year 4.5%. Where else if you invest directly into unit trust you can earn between 10-12%.

As I known, this new investment scheme started since 1st February 2008, all investor can invest but not more than 20% of their savings in EPF account 1. This kind of investment only allows investing once for every 3 months and minimum investment is RM1, 000.

How To Apply?

1) Photocopy of your NRIC (both side)
2) Fill up KWSP investment form with some personal details
3) Fill up mutual fund companies investment forms.

What Fund Can You Invest?

All funds that has approved by EPF:

i. Public Regular Savings Fund (PRSF)
ii. Public Index Fund (PIX)
iii. Public Islamic Equity Fund (PIEF)
iv. Public Islamic Balance Fund (PIBF)
v. Public Islamic Sector Select Fund (PISSF) - CLOSED
vi. Public Sector Select Fund (PSSF) - CLOSED
vii. Public Select Bond Fund (PSBF)
viii. Public Money Market Fund (PMMF)
ix. Public Islamic Money Market Fund (PIMMF)
x. Public Islamic Select Treasures Fund (PISTF) - NEW!!!

How Much You Can Invest In EPF Approved Unit Trust Fund?

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Public Mutual Fund Still No.1 In Malaysia Unit Trust Industry

As reported past few months, Public Mutual still maintains no.1 position in Malaysia’s Unit Trust industry. As you can see, this is a strong and stable company for investors during current market conditions.

My friends have been Public Mutual Fund agents for quite some time ago and I support them and invest in the unit trust until now. Of course, it will probably take some time before I get to see the results. So do you invest in unit trust? How’s the performance of your mutual fund?

My Latest Investment Date: 8th May 2009

Top Up Funds:
Public Asean Dividend Fund (well perform, highest NAV price was RM0.29, recommended to invest) – 1k.

Public Euro Pacific Fund (less performing) –1k

Public China Ittikal Fund – 1k.

Generally, the return on investment for mutual fund is higher than bank fixed deposit. However, mutual fund stands the risk of losing money whereas for fixed deposit 100% safe since it is capital guaranteed.

The return on investment more or less should be about the same, or maybe a little bit more if you invest in public mutual. Besides, you can buy and sell your unit at any time, so you have more control to buy units when the price is lower and sell them back when the price is higher. However, I suggest you don’t do so as it is a long-term investment and the fact that they charge you administration fee every time you top up or invest new unit trust.

New Way To Invest Public Mutual Fund With EPF

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Do You Invest In Unit Trust ?

I owned some public mutual funds and the prices dropped so badly since the day I put in money. Now the loss is about 5%-8%. Anyway, now is not a good time to invest in UT. The financial professional predicted that the market would continue to go down until 2009. If you feel that it’s the best time to go in then you can make a commitment to invest consistently and wait for the market to reach the up cycle again and you can sell off all your units for a handsome profit.

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PB China Pacific Equity Fund

Public Bank will launch its first China fund, PB China Pacific Equity Fund(PBCPEF) today which is 23 October 2007. PBCPEF will invest mainly in China stocks and the balance in North Asian markets such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan. PBCPEF is suitable for aggressive investors who can take risk of market highs and lows to achieve medium to long-term capital growth for their investments.

The Chinese economy is projected to grow consistently at 11.2% for 2007 and 10.6% for 2008. Meanwhile, gross domestic product growth for South Korea and Taiwan is projected at above 4% for 2007/2008 as global demand for electronic products.

The issue price / NAV of PBCPEF is at MYR 0.25 per unit during the 21-day initial offer period of 23 October 2007 to 12 November 2007. During the offer period, a special promotion service charge of 5.45% of NAV per unit is levied. Investors who opt for Direct Debit Instruction with PBCPEF during the offer period will also enjoy the special promotion service charge. The minimum initial investment for the fund is MYR 1k and the minimum additional investment is just MYR 100.

Public Mutual Old System Vs New System

There have been quite a few people get confused by the Public Mutual new system. Yes the calculation is slightly different now. So which calculation actually benefit the investors more ? The answer is…
*People who get used to previous system can refer to Case B.

Case A:Assume that investor would like to invest MYR 10k into PFEPRF during offer period excluding service charge which the NAV is RM0.25 and the service charge is 5.45%.

Service charge 5.45% = 0.0545

Total service charge = Effective Investment amount * Service charge
= MYR 10,000 * 0.0545
= MYR 545

Total payable amount = Investment amount in PFEPRF + Total service charge incurred
= MYR 10,000 + MYR 545
= MYR 10,545.00

Number of units = Effective Investment amount/NAV per unit
= MYR 10,000/RM0.25
= 40,000 units

Case B:
Investment MYR 10k inclusive of initial service charge(5.45%).

Effective investment amount = Total Paid Amount/(1+service charge)
= MYR 10,000/(1+0.0545)
= MYR 9483.17

Number of units = Effective investment amount/NAV per unit
= MYR 9483.17/MYR 0.25
= 37932.68 units

Effective investment amount = Total NAV
= NAV per unit * Number of units

Public Mutual Property and Resorts Fund

Public Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary, Public Mutual will be launching two new funds on 10 July 2007, which are Public Far-East Property & Resorts Fund (PFEPRF) and Public Islamic Select Bond Fund (PISBF). PFEPRF is an equity fund to achieve capital growth over the medium-to long-term period by investing in property investment and development, hotel and resorts development, and real estate investment trusts (REITs) in domestic and regional markets.

Launching at a NAV of MYR 0.25 per unit, PFEPRF is suitable for moderate investors who can expect longer periods of market highs and lows in capital growth. During the 21-day initial offer period from 10 July 2007 to 30 July 2007, a promotion service charge of 5.45% of NAV per unit is levied. The minimum initial investment for the fund is MYR 1k and the minimum top-up is MYR 100.