With so many options when it comes to unit trust, it won’t be easy to come out with a list of the best unit trust in Malaysia. Nevertheless, here are some of the best unit trust in Malaysia.
There were a total of 44 categories to emerge as the best unit trust in Malaysia. In total, there were 5 broad categories: Core Equity, Core Fixed Income, Balanced, Supplementary Portfolio and Private Retirement Scheme (PRS).
The winner for Core Equity – Global category, goes to Manulife Global Thematic Fund by Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad.
The winner for Core Equity – Global (Islamic) is abrdn Islamic World Equity Fund by abrdn Islamic Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
The winner for Core Equity – Global Emerging Markets is won by Eastspring Investments Global Emerging Markets Fund by Eastspring Investments Berhad.
Two winners for Core Equity – Asia ex-Japan, one goes to Affin Hwang Select Asia Pacific (ex Japan) Dividend Fund by Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad and the other goes to Principal Asia Pacific Dynamic Growth Fund by Principal Malaysia.
We also have two winners for the Core Equity – Asia ex-Japan (Islamic) category, won by Affin Hwang Aiiman Asia (ex Japan) Growth Fund by Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad and Principal Islamic Asia Pacific Dynamic Equity Fund by Principal Malaysia.
For the Core Equity – Malaysia category, the two winners are Affin Hwang Equity Fund by Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad and KAF Tactical Fund by KAF Investment Funds Berhad.
Core Equity – Malaysia (Islamic) category have two winners as well: Affin Hwang Aiiman Growth Fund by Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad and PMB Shariah Premier Fund by PMB Investment Berhad.
Moving on to the Core Fixed Income, the Core Fixed Income – Malaysia category have two winners: KAF Bond Fund by KAF Investment Funds Berhad and Manulife Investment Bond Fund by Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad.
Core Fixed Income – Malaysia (Islamic) was won by AmanahRaya Syariah Trust Fund by AmanahRaya Investment Management Sdn Bhd.
Next up we have the Balanced category, with Balanced – Global won by RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd with its RHB Global Allocation Fund.
Balanced – Asia ex-Japan winner is Principal Asia Pacific Dynamic Mixed Asset Fund by Principal Malaysia.
Balanced – Malaysia category was won by Affin Hwang Select Balanced Fund by Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad.
Finally, Pheim Unit Trusts Berhad won the Balanced – Malaysia (Islamic) with its Dana Makmur Pheim.
Under Supplementary Portfolio, the winner for Sub Regional Equity – ASEAN is Principal ASEAN Dynamic Fund by Principal Malaysia.
Sub Regional Equity – ASEAN (Islamic) was won by ASEAN Equity Fund by Saturna Sdn Bhd.
The Sub Regional Equity – Greater China was won by Principal Malaysia with its Principal Greater China Equity Fund.
Sub Regional Equity – Greater China (Islamic) category winner is Eastspring Investments Dinasti Equity Fund by Eastspring Investments Berhad.
Sub Regional Equity – Europe was won by Europe Equity Growth by AmFunds Management Berhad.
Single Country Equity – US winner is Manulife Investment U.S. Equity Fund by Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad.
Single Country Equity – China category winner is RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd with its RHB Big Cap China Enterprise Fund.
Single Country Equity – Japan was won by Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad with its Affin Hwang World Series – Japan Growth Fund.
Single Country Equity – Singapore was won by Singapore Dividend Equity Fund by Nikko Asset Management Asia Limited.
The Sector Equity – Asia ex-Japan Small to Medium Companies category winner is Affin Hwang Select Asia (ex Japan) Quantum Fund by Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad.
Sector Equity – Malaysia Small to Medium Companies winner is KAF Investment Funds Berhad with its KAF Vision Fund.
Meanwhile Sector Equity – Malaysia Small to Medium Companies (Islamic) category was won by Kenanga Investors Berhad with its Kenanga Shariah Growth Opportunities Fund.
Then we have Kenanga Investors Berhad winning the Sector Equity – Malaysia Focused with its Kenanga Growth Fund Series 2.
The winner for Sector Equity – Global ESG (Water Theme) is Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad with its Manulife Global Aqua Fund.
Sector Equity – Global Healthcare category winner is Manulife Global Healthcare Fund by Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad.
TA Investment Management Berhad wins in the Sector Equity – Global Technology category with the TA Global Technology Fund.
Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd wins in the Fixed Income – Global (Islamic) with its MAMG Global Income-I Fund.
There were two winners in the Fixed Income – Asia ex-Japan category: Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad with its Affin Hwang Select Bond Fund and AmFunds Management Berhad with its AmTactical Bond.
Under the Fixed Income – Emerging Markets category, RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd emerge victorious with the RHB Emerging Markets Bond Fund.
Fixed Income – Malaysia (Short Duration) category saw that AmFunds Management Berhad wins with its AmIncome Plus.
In the Fixed Income – Malaysia with Foreign Exposure category, AmFunds Management Berhad won it with the AmDynamic Bond.
In the Private Retirement Scheme (PRS), there were a total of four categories. Affin Hwang Asset Management Berhad wins the Private Retirement Scheme – Moderate with its Affin Hwang PRS Moderate Fund.
Next we have AIA Pension and Asset Management Sdn Bhd winning the Private Retirement Scheme – Growth category with AIA PAM – Growth Fund.
The Private Retirement Scheme – Moderate (Islamic) category was Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad picking it up with its Manulife Shariah PRS-Moderate Fund.
Last but not least, Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad wins the Private Retirement Scheme – Growth (Islamic) with its Manulife Shariah PRS-Growth Fund.
How The Best Unit Trust Was Selected?
The winners were chosen using a meticulous selection process that involves quantitative and qualitative criteria.
Performance
The most objective way to determine the quality of the fund manager is to assess the fund’s historical performance, a factor we weigh heavily in our fund selection exercise. For this, we consider both the magnitude of performance as well as the consistency of returns. In the case of new funds which feed into their overseas target funds with a longer track record, we may assess the target fund’s performance. We recommend funds which have at least a 3-year track record.
Expense Ratio
The expense ratio is what investors pay for the management of their fund on an annual basis. This charge is deducted from the value of the unit trust, and it takes into account all the operating expenses that a fund incurs, including its annual management fee, administration costs as well as trustee and custodian fees. Generally speaking, the lower the expense ratio, the better it is for you, because you are incurring less costs.
Risk
Instead of purely using standard deviation as the measure of risk, we believe that it is more appropriate to focus on how well a fund holds up during periods when the relevant markets saw substantial decline. As such, in our assessment of risk, we focus on the maximum decline of a fund over a given period, and also incorporate a measure of downside volatility, which tells us how volatile a fund is over periods when it is losing value.
Bond Funds
Equity funds usually track well-known stock market benchmarks, making it easier to compare funds invested in a similar region or country. Bond funds are less comparable, given their differentiated focus on credit, country selection, currency and duration. To reflect the emphasis on stability in fi xed income investments, we assign different weightings to the three quantitative parameters as shown below.
Other Qualitative Criteria
In addition to looking at the above-mentioned quantitative parameters, we also consider other qualitative factors in our analysis, including the fund manager’s consistency in their investment approach, the departure of key personnel as well as the stability of the management team. We also incorporate our outlook on the fi xed income market to assess the merits and disadvantages of a bond fund.
As most of the funds which invest in other regions buy companies that predominantly have their assets and earning streams denominated in foreign currencies, there is currency risk involved. A gain in the MYR against another currency may reduce the returns of the funds exposed to other currencies, while a drop in the MYR against other currencies would increase the returns. Thus, qualitative analysis is a necessary step to distinguish
funds with superior management ability from those which were beneficiaries of strong market or currency movements.
As we take into account the qualitative factors, the highest scoring fund based on quantitative assessment in a particular category may not necessarily be the fund we recommend, although fund performance remains a significant factor.
Weightage Of Quantitative Parameters
Those are some of the best unit trust in Malaysia, but always do your own due diligence before buying any of it.
Know your risk tolerance, time horizon and capital that you can invest in. A unit trust might be suitable for me, but might not necessarily be suitable for you or others.
