What global funds are available locally in Malaysia (1) Monday, Sep 25 2006

It’s been a hectic week at work (to say the least!) as most of you would probably have gathered. I’ve hardly had 10 minutes at my desk every day and after each 12 hour day, all I could do was to pass out. :{  The good news is that I’ve been taking the train to work which leaves me with quite a bit of time to do my “research”. So there are some juicy things coming your way…for those of you faithful readers.  I’m still very much committed to keeping this blog alive and sharing more vignettes about growing your net worth. 

With so many global/regional mutual funds now available in Malaysia, I thought it timely to put together a little summary of what’s available to Malaysian investors currently. I’ve been on the lookout for  interesting global fund offerings to invest in, so decided to do a little bit of research.  After trawling” available publications and news websites, I came up with the following global and regional funds:

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New residential developments in KL City Centre Monday, Sep 18 2006

 

It has been a while since I’ve checked out property developments in KL so I thought I would bring myself up to speed (well, update myself anyway ) last Sunday by going to see two recently launched high-end condos in the KL city centre vicinity. 

I received an invite for the Hampshire Residences from the developer, Zelan Development Sdn Bhd (part of Tronoh Group). The development comprises two towers of which Tower A was launched on September 13. Located along Persiaran Hampshire off Jalan Ampang, the project has two main facings – KLCC Park and Jalan Yap Kwan Seng.  I like the fact that it is just a 10 minute walk to KLCC but situated just far enough from the hustle-bustle of Jalan Ampang in a leafy area. 

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Book of the month – September 2006 Sunday, Sep 17 2006

 

Multiple Streams of Income: How to Generate a Lifetime of Unlimited Wealth (2nd Edition)
by Robert G. Allen

I’ve been running around like a blue-a***d fly getting ready for a spanking new job that I’m starting tomorrow but thought that I should put up my September 2006 BOTM in case some of you are starting to wonder whether last month’s was just a one-off

“The secret of the wealthy is not that they have more money but that they have more time freedom. Because most of their income streams are residual, they have more time to spend on anything they want.” 

What a great quote from Robert Allen. This book is a must-read for everyone whether employed, self-employed or un-employed. When I first read it almost one year ago, it totally changed my perception about wealth.

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So you’ve missed out on ASW 2020…now what? (2) Saturday, Sep 9 2006

I covered the products offered by banks in part one of this post about alternatives to the ASW 2020. In this instalment, I will cover the hot topic of REITs.

More and more REITs are coming onstream since the launch of the Malaysia’s maiden REIT back in 2005, the Axis REIT. REIT (pronounced “reet”) stands for real estate investment trust. Given Malaysians’ love affair with bricks and mortar, this is a very flexible investment vehicle that allows us to indirectly own a stake in say, Starhill Gallery or the Kuala Lumpur JW Marriott simply by buying the building’s REIT through Bursa.

What’s more you don’t need a lot of money. The closing price of the Starhill REIT as at 8 September 2006 was RM0.95 and 1,000 shares will cost you just RM950. If this sounds interesting, read on…

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PNB concerned over ‘plight’ of ASW 2020 applicants Friday, Sep 8 2006

There we were last night scratching our heads (well OK, not quite that bad) to come up with ideas where to ”stash our cash” after the ASW 2020 debacle. And I still have to come up with my second instalment to that particular post.

Meanwhile……..over at the PNB offices, a statement has been issued by their VP to render their side of the story. Lil Mom told me about it over the phone today and I manage to lift it from today’s Star. And it goes like this: 

“WE AT Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd would like to thank Malaysians for their continued support of our unit trust products, particularly the most recent one involving the offer of additional units of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020. 

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So you’ve missed out on ASW 2020…now what? Thursday, Sep 7 2006

Judging by the comments from my ASW 2020 post, 9 out of 10 people (if not more) missed out on the ASW 2020. So if you’re one of those poor souls — all cashed out and no place to invest… , I thought it’d be good to get creative with some alternatives to the ASW 2020 that you could consider. The list is not exhaustive so, you’re welcome to add more ideas through the comments section. Whatever it is, nobody mention Swisscash or Swiss Mutual…puurrlleeeassse!!

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Something Swiss…something not so Swiss Monday, Sep 4 2006

I was in Penang over the Merdeka weekend and chanced upon Edelweiss Cafe, a delightful bar-cafe-restaurant in the historic enclave of Georgetown. Located a two-minute walk from Khoo Kongsi down Armenian Street, the cafe is housed in a 19th century shophouse lovingly restored to its original splendour by its owners, a Swiss-Malaysian couple.

Serving great food (Swiss/European and local cuisine), drinks (including my favourite, lemongrass) and desserts in a chilled out ambience, this is really cool place to relax and hang out with your friends if you’re ever in The Pearl.

On the other hand, some of you may have read the article in the Star on Sunday (3 September) titled “Be wary of ‘Swiss’ website“.

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Bursa super-bull coming? Sunday, Sep 3 2006

ZenTrader has put up a chart of the KLCI in his latest post, and asks the question, is there a “Super Cycle” in the making? And I’m helping to spread the word – so you guys can decide for yourselves if this is going to be the year of the bull after all…

Interestingly some stock-broker friends of mine had showed me a similar chart some weeks back, and alluded to the same thing. I thought they were all crazy the first time I heard it.

I’ve always wanted to believe in the power of charts to predict where prices are headed but whatever amateurish charting attempts I made in the past always ended in me missing the boat when it came to picking the right stock. So now I just stick with the fundamentalists.

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Budget 2007 – Sweet! Saturday, Sep 2 2006

I’ve just skimmed through the highlights, and it looks like we have a mildly expansionary budget this year with lots of things to cheer about. Here are some of the notable changes announced for Malaysia’s 200 Budget:

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