Public Mutual Bhd was the biggest winner at the Morningstar Malaysia Fund Awards 2020, bagging four out of the five awards on offer.
The unit trust company took home four awards, namely Best Asia-Pacific Equity Fund, Best Malaysia Large-Cap Equity Fund, Best Malaysia Bond Fund and Best Malaysia Bond (Syariah) Fund.
Principal Asset Management Bhd’s Principal Islamic DALI Equity Fund (formerly known as CIMB Islamic DALI Equity Fund) won the Best Malaysia Large-Cap Equity (Syariah) Fund.
The winners were unveiled during an awards webcast today by Morningstar Asia Ltd, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research.
The annual Morningstar Malaysia Fund Awards recognise retail funds and fund houses that have added the most value for investors within the context of their relevant peer group in 2019 and over longer time periods.
Morningstar selects the winners using a quantitative methodology, along with a qualitative overlay. Weightings to one-, three-, and five-year risk-adjusted performance are factored into the methodology.
“Morningstar’s Annual Awards highlight the quality and breadth of investments available for investors in each region,” said Nick Cheung, chief executive officer for Morningstar in Asia. “Our 2020 winners have been great drivers of investor success. It is our honour to recognise their outstanding achievements and commitments to investors.”
He pointed out that every year, Morningstar presents awards to more than 30 countries globally to recognise exceptional fund managers and investment teams who deliver value to investors, and put investors’ interest at the first place.
“This is in perfect alignment to Morningstar’s vision, which is to empower investors to make more informed investment decisions, and make better investment outcomes.
“Morningstar has a long history of helping investors. Despite the current difficult environment, we continue to invest to allow investors to have more and expanded research coverage on equity, fund, ETF, ESG and private investments,” Cheung said.
For example, he said Morningstar will soon roll out a new web-based analytic platform of Morningstar Direct which has new features and data sets to allow investors to make better informed investment decisions.
Wing Chan, Morningstar’s director of Manager Research Practice, EMEA & Asia, said the 2019 rally in both equities and bonds has rewarded investors handsomely.
“However, it was also one of the more unpredictable periods in history, with low interest rates, heightened geopolitical uncertainty, and stretching asset valuations continuing to worry investors.
“The Awards winners, across our equity and fixed income categories, have proved their ability to deliver market-beating returns over the long term without undue risk,” he added.
Public Mutual, the No 1 private unit trust company and Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) provider in Malaysia, commands a market share of 34.6% for the retail funds sector and 42.7% for the PRS sector. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Public Bank, its total net asset value stands at RM85.3 bil as at end-January 2020.
Principal Asset Management is a joint venture between Principal Financial Group, a Nasdaq-listed global financial services company, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. Headquartered in Malaysia, Principal Asset Management has footprint across Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, with nearly RM88 bil in assets under management as of February 2020.
2020 Morningstar Fund Awards Malaysia
