MERDEKA!!!

Merdeka is coming soon! This time I can feel how important, how hard our previous Baba Kemerdekaan fight for independent, fight for the land, fight for the justice, fight for anything which he think was good for the next generation, for us.I can feel that how united for all the races at that time of Merdeka.Now, thing change, human change, mind change…At now generation, I could feel that we’re not united than before. I’m very sad when I read & saw the Malaysian fighting each other without feeling loving the country. Some was for their own interest, some was for their greedy, some was using dirty way to bring down others…I’m scare & sad to see one day Malaysia is not True Malaysia anymore.

I’m Malaysian, born at here…and will die at here…this is the only place which I can feel that “I’m at home”…

A BIG MISTAKE IF COMMITTED HIGH DEBTS AT YOUNG AGE

Financial Planning must start at young age if you want to achieve financial freedom earlier.When young, the priority should be learn Investing, save more & Invest.
No financial planning is bad, but if you committed high liabilities at young age, this is worse than no planning.
IF you have just started working & earn a salary that barely enough to cover your monthly expenses, you are making a BIG mistake if incurred big DEBTS by buying a new cars & a house with minimum downpayments at young age.
You will end up incurred a huge liabilities owing to Banks, on top of daily expenses, you have to pay monthly installment & interest from your salary. Nothing left after all this expenses, means no saving for YEARS untill you finally settle your bank loans.( this will take you many years to settle, unless you are so capable that your promotions & increment beat the average salary earner)
It is advisable to avoid to purchase BIG ITEM like new car or house at young age, use the limited financial resources (salary) to save as much as possible, learn investing, invest your saving to earn extra income.
This investment income will be your second source of income, your employment salary is the major one. At some point of time, your investment income will grow & final overtake your salary as the major source of income.
Then this is time you can start to invest in House or purchse a better car without affecting your saving & personal wealth.

Daim Linked Company?

Rumours:
1. Daibochi
2. AFG
3. Multi-Purpose
4. KFima
5. TRI (?)
6. Cold Storage (Now under Berjaya ?)
7. RHB
8. UEM
9. Time
10. Ho Hup
11. Faber
12. FCW
13. L&G
14. Dataprep
15. MRCB
16. PSCI
17. EKRAN
18. PWE
19. Berjaya Group
20. Bandaraya

Choices That Will Change Your Life

Empowering Choice #1: Choose your thoughts with clear positive intentionEmpowering Choice #2: Choose your speech consciously with compassion for yourself and othersEmpowering Choice #3: Choose your actions to align with your truth and to improve the situation
Thought for the Day: Yes I can!Words for the Day: I am grateful for all that I have!Action for the day: I will make this day brighter for someone else, as well as myself!

DECODING PNB

Four of the 10 PNB funds are known as fixed-price funds where the price per unit is fixed at RM1 regardless of how the market performed. There is a history behind this practice. The first PNB fund, Amanah Saham Nasional, was launched as a fixed-price fund in 1981 but it reverted back to market pricing in 1991 as per the trust deed. Soon after that, Amanah Saham Bumiputera, a fixed-price fund was launched in 1990 for investors not accustomed to market fluctuations. Altogether, there are four such funds by PNB.Fixed-price funds are practically risk-free as investors get back whatever they put in if or when they redeem their investments. On top of that, you get generous returns of 7% to 8% every year. It is a very good deal indeed but on the other side of the coin, the actual value of the underlying investments is unknown, unlike other unit trust funds where you know the value of your investments at any point in time. The balance sheets of fixed-price funds are not disclosed in their annual reports, and the Securities Commission, the body governing the unit trust industry, grants these funds various exemptions from its guidelines on unit trust funds.How can a fund keep paying 6%-8% a year in dividend, invested 60%-90% in local equities, and will always have a fixed price of RM1 NAV. You cannot get that anywhere else, can you? Is anybody even a bit curious? PNB is not almighty. What about the 1997-1998 Asian crisis, the Internet meltdown, the 9-11 period, the SARS debacle, and the very recent subprime global meltdown ... surely we all saw that equity prices were hammered for an extended period.The way PNB would argue is that they do income smoothing, or something along those lines. That in good year, say they get an 11% return, they will keep some of the gains and declare only 7% in dividends. The excess would go into a special performance account to top up future years that they do not have stellar dividends. That sounds alright except that you still did not know the exact real NAV of these funds.PNB could very well be paying 6%-8% dividend every year on these fixed price funds but the real NAV may be deteriorating below RM1.00, and we don't know because its not known. Should we be concerned if the actual collective real NAV of these fixed priced funds were to be say RM0.97, RM0.93 and RM0.88 for 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively??? We can only assume that their real NAV is healthy.In good or bad markets, the funds have consistently returned steady dividends in the high single digit. But the fact is, the returns are lower today than in the 1980s and 1990s when dividends and bonuses were in the double-digit realm (as high as 20% for ASN in 1981). But no one is complaining about the 7% to 8% annual return today considering that investments in the fixed-price funds are essentially risk-free — you get your principal back when you sell your units.
PNB is a unique institution. I can understand how they can generate double digit return in the early years (PNB was established in 1979). Pernas, which had been acquiring public-listed companies under foreign control, was compelled to transfer 13 of its companies, including Sime Darby Bhd and Malaysia Mining Corp Bhd, to PNB at cost. Malayan Banking Bhd was transferred to PNB after Bank Negara Malaysia stepped in to restructure the bank in 1967 following a bank run, which wiped out 40% of its deposit base. PNB also benefited from grants and interest-free loans from the government to facilitate the acquisitions. By 1989, PNB had transferred to ASN sizeable stakes in various listed entities. Similarly, ASB’s assets comprised those transferred from PNB. Furthermore, as a bumiputera institution and one of the biggest institutional investors in town, PNB is said to have been allotted shares in companies en route to listing at attractive prices, given the need to meet the 30% bumiputera shareholding requirement.
In the 90s PNB still had its channels as many big companies got listed, and IPOs generally performed outstandingly during the early 90s bull run. Over the last few yers, these mega IPOs have dried up. PNB will now have to rely on corporate finance and restructuring to generate value to its stable of companies. Hence, arguably, the Sime Darby's mega plantation scheme is the start of many more projects under PNB's auspices. PNB will now have to consolidate its stable of companies, put them into synergistic groupings to create more value. All that is very necessary to continue to support these fixed priced funds that still give 6%-8% dividend income every year and can always be redeemed at RM1.00 par.
So, the scepticism over PNB's ability to maintain these returns is genuine and needed to be asked. As to whether they can do it depends on execution, the advisors they have, and how astute they are at not just managing funds but including appointing the right people to manage the synergies and put the collective resources to work. Sime Darby is still digesting the huge plantation firms acquired. It is imperative that PNB maintain a very high standard of professionalism in its retention of top management executives in running these merged entities. PNB has to minimise the political interference to have political appointees - it has to manage with clear transparency with global best practices as their mantra.
The next big project for PNB has to be its many property companies under its stable. PNB have SP Setia and Mah Sing, and its stakes in these companies have been "rising strategically". In contrast, PNB has accumulated almost 20% in Mah Sing and has direct and indirect interests of close to 32.9% in S P Setia. Another company that PNB has bought a stake in is I-Bhd, where it has 18.1%. Sime Darby Property could be better placed in a property conglomerate as it has the largest landbank in the country. Sime Darby’s landbank in the Klang Valley stretches from the Guthrie Corridor in the north of Selangor, to Putrajaya, Seremban and Port Dickson. The 37,000 acres in its landbank is about as big as Kuala Lumpur and three times the size of Putrajaya.
PNB took Petaling Garden Bhd, Island & Peninsular Bhd and Pelangi Bhd private between 2005 and 2007. The three collectively own 7,200 hectares of land. Apart from land, PNB also has buildings in prime locations that can easily be packaged into a real estate investment fund (REIT). Within its fold is also Syarikat Perumahan Pegawai Kerajaan Sdn Bhd (SPPK), which has a good property development record. Because of its huge landbank, Mah Sing and S P Setia are said to be possible vehicles for PNB to unlock value.
It looks increasingly like PNB want Sime Darby to concentrate on plantations. Hiving off SDP to a merged Mah Sing-SP Setia vehicle would probably yield great value to Sime Darby and ramps up PNB's control in Mah Sing-SP Setia. PNB holds about 53% stake in Sime Darby, which wholly owns Sime Property.
Imagine if PNB injects the three property developers – Island & Peninsular Bhd, Petaling Garden Bhd and Pelangi Bhd – all privatised between 2005 and 2007, as well into the merged SPSetia-Mah Sing vehicle. Its a mega property concern for sure. The good thing is that it can consolidate its landbank in one major masterplan and plan much better strategically. It will be much better capitalised as well to venture into new markets with various "brands" for the right markets.
I doubt very much PNB will take SP Setia or Mah Sing private. Injecting what they have into SP Setia-Mah Sing would make much more sense. The whole shebang would require massive amount of capital for development and venturing into new markets, you wouldn't want to take that onto PNB's balance sheets as we could be talking in billions of ringgit every few years.Other institutional shareholders of SP Setia include the Employees Provident Fund with 12%, Capital Group of the US also with 12%, and other foreign shareholders which hold another 14% in the company. On June 18, SP Setia announced the appointment of two nominees of PNB – Tan Sri Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin and Datuk Noor Farida Mohd Ariffin – as its new non-independent and non-executive directors. SP Setia’s two executive directors – Khor Chap Jen and Teow Leong Seng – resigned from their positions on the same day. However, both remain with the company in their existing capacity as executive vice-president in charge of property division (central) and executive vice-president/CEO of international business development respectively.

AMANAH SAHAM 1MALAYSIA

Facts a) Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS 1Malaysia), an all-Malaysian fund managed by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB). As of end-2008, PNB’s AUM of RM120 billion amounted to 18.1% of the total market capitalisation of Bursa Malaysia. b) Amanah Saham 1Malaysia is a fixed price products sell at 1ringgit per unit, like ASB/ASW/ASM, it is an equity fund with around 70% or more (of fund size) exposure to equity.c) The fund will be invested in Malaysian companies with its yield benchmark according to 5-year Malaysian government yields which currently hovers around 3.7 to 4.0 percent.d) AS1M will not be the biggest fund under PNB. ASB is the biggest fund so far with RM62bil fund in circulation (as per its annual report ended 31/12/08), even ASW has the approved fund size of RM14 billion. e) ASM and ASW2020 give out dividends based on the returns of their investment portfolios, which are 95% equity and 5% others. Their returns have been consistently above 6% over the years. However, this does not mean that it cannot go lower than 6%.f) To my knowledge it is not capital guaranteed. The Securities Commission guidelines has it clearly defined that if its a GUARANTEED FUND - (1) A guaranteed fund is one which guarantees investors will get back the capital invested, with some returns (if any), or guarantees investors a certain investment return payable at a pre-determined date in the future. (2) The word “guarantee” must appear in the fund’s name. Where a fund does not comply with the requirements in this appendix, it must not use the word “guarantee”, or any other name which may imply some form of guarantee, in its name or in its promotional materials. Such a fund is prohibited from holding itself out as a guaranteed fund.Then there is the nuanced terminology, the Capital Protected Fund (taken from the ASN site): A capital protected fund is one whose primary objective is to protect and return investors’ capital at a pre-determined date in the future, with some returns (if any). This fund will try and protect the capital but there is no guarantee, which makes it different from a guaranteed fund. I don't know about you but I found the phrase "this fund will try and protect the capital but there is no guarantee" very very uncomfortable. Might as well don't say it is capital protected.From the prospectus it is clear that it is not a guaranteed fund, but I am not sure if its a Capital Protected Fund. Clarification please. The Capital Guarantee cannot be implied. You can only say it is Capital Guaranteed if capital can be returned at a pre-determined date, ... and ASM, ASW and AS1M all do not have maturity dates!!??However, in the lexicon of PNB, the last few funds (including AS1M), they are referred to as "fixed priced funds". Hence if the fixed priced funds will always have a NAV of RM1, then its actually better than Capital Protected, because even in a Capital Protected fund, you can lose out if you redeem too early) . In the case of fixed-price funds, there appears to be no downside risk whatsoever as the NAV is constantly fixed at RM1, along with the relatively high historical and stable returns. These funds have the backing of the government to create long-term and steady returns for their investors. These fixed-price funds are not to be confused with capital guaranteed funds.So there it is, its not a Guaranteed Fund, but its better than a Capital Protected Fund.Closing Comments:
My biggest concern is when you invest 70%-90% of your NAV in local equities, shouldn't the performance be benchmarked against the FBM Composite Index rather than KLIBOR and MGS? The fact that the fund is benchmarked against KLIBOR and MGS indicate that it is primarily a "dividend based fund". The prime objective is to payout at least the benchmark or a little above that. Even so, how can you manage a fund that is 70%-90% in equities with that kind of "promised return". Equities can give you 10%-20% a year or could wipe out 10%-20% of your capital a year. Unless you manage the fund like EPF whereby you invest at least 60%-80% of your funds in MGS, then you can say you benchmark it to KLIBOR and MGS.
This would also hint at the strategy to be adopted by AS1M: the fund will be looking primarily at: proven companies with a "vocal dividend policy" (e.g. telling all that they will pay out 40% of profits as dividends every year); and they will be looking at consistent dividend policies over at least a 5 year period.

How to Profit From ISA Protest

Every crisis is an opportunity! How to turn a profit from a protest instead of an allege loss:
Allow a peaceful protest between 12pm - 3pm: Under the hot sun, humans will lose a lot of water due to sweating, this loss needs to be replace. Traders can sell mineral water or 100Plus to quench the thirst of protestor.
Protesters need to travel to downtown KL, means of transport are the usual train, LRT, car, bus and motorcycle. Increase revenue from parking and toll (it seems that most roads leading to KL are tolled). Increase petrol sales will benefit Petronas. RapidKL buses will be full.
Sales of T-shirt, headband, scarf, button pins with anti-ISA wordings.
After the protest, everyone will be surely hungry (the walking and shouting will require a lot of energy). This is an opportunity to sell Ramli burger, pisang goreng, jagung bakar, ayam percik and all sort of food. Wah! Like a pasar malam now.This is how a businessman thinks - positively. In my opinion, let them protest peacefully and get it done as fast as possible. I think that 2-3 hours of protest will satisfy the protestors. A lock down of the whole city for the whole day will definitely cause financial loss to everyone.
Whatever, FUCK U DSAI!! FUCK PKR!!