Best Performing Public Mutual Funds

Public Mutual Berhad is managing more than 80 funds today. However, which are the top performing funds can provide investors better returns in the medium and long term period? I have selected four P-series funds for further analysis, namely Public Smallcap Fund, Public Islamic Opportunities Fund, Public Bond Fund & Public Islamic Bond Fund.

 Total return of funds from March 2006 to March 2011 (Part 1)

 Total return of funds from March 2006 to March 2011 (Part 2)

1. Public SmallCap Fund

Public Smallcap Fund was the the best performing fund from March 2006 until March 2011. It managed to achieve 171.32% return within 4 years despite the economic downturn on mid 2008. The fund objective is to achieve high capital growth through investments in companies with small market capitalisation.

Public SmallCap Fund is categorized as Equity fund with Aggressive risk profile. Thus, the trend of this fund is much likely to follow Asian Stock Market performance. In other word, if KLCI falls, the tendency of this fund to fall is likely to be happen. However, this fund always outperformed its benchmark KLCI as explained by the following table & graph:-

Source: Fund Performance, Public Mutual Berhad (2011)

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Annual returns for Financial Years Ended August 31
Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
P SmallCap %	11.42	55.6	-2.13	9.66	35.15
Benchmark Index %	4.88	32.96	-14.75	10.01	13.55

Source: Market review and outlook for April 2011, Public Mutual Berhad (2011).

The table above shows that Public Smallcap fund outperformed its benchmark,KLCI for 4 years with exceptional of year 2009, a slightly lower return than KLCI. In fact, P Smallcap managed to sustain it position with a slightly negative return of only 2.13% despite the heavily hit Global Financial Crisis in 2008 (KLCI dropped 14.75%).

As at April 2011, P Smallcap concentrated on Financial, Industrial and Communication sector, which these sectors are the driving force of economic gorwth, especially in Asian countries. Morningstar Rating gave a 5 stars to its overall performance. Moreover, Lipper Leaders gave scores of 5, 4 and 5 on Consistent Return, Preservation and Total Return respectively.

2. Public Islamic Opportunities Fund

Public Islamic Opportunities Fund ranked second in total 60 P-series Fund in term of total return from period of March 2006 to March 2011, recorded 115.91%. Objective of this fund is to achieve capital growth investments in companies with small market capitalisation which comply with Shariah Principles.

Public Islamic Opportunities Fund is categorized as Islamic Syariah Equity Fund with Aggressive Risk profile. Morningstar Rating gave it a 5 stars rating on its overall performance. Furthermore, Lipper Leaders gave scores of 4, 3 and 4 on Consistent Return, Preservation and Total Return respectively.

PIOF asset allocation concentrated on Malaysia market, mainly on Industrial, Consumer, Energy & Communication Sector

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Source: Fund Performance, Public Mutual Berhad (2011) Annual Returns for Financial Years Ended July 31
Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
PIOF %	9.8	72.21	-15.2	6.59	24.47
Benchmark Index %	2.64	54.87	-16.72	-0.1	12.35

Source: Market review and outlook for April 2011, Public Mutual Berhad (2011).

The table above reported the annual returns of PIOF from period of 2006 to 2010. Again, this fund outperformed its benchmark index - FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Shariah Index for consecutive years. PIOF was affected by the 08' Financial Crisis too, recorded a negative return of 15.2% in that particular year. However, it managed to bounce back and gained a positive return of 6.59% & 24.47% in 2009 & 2010.

3. Public Bond Fund

Public Bond Fund (PBF) is categorized as MYR Bond fund with Conservative Risk profile. It managed to achieve 30.61% return within 4 years. Fund objective is to provide a steady stream of income returns through investment in money market and private debt securities.

Annual Returns for Financial Years Ended July 31
Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
P Bond Fund %	2.9	8.75	-1.33	8.01	7.64
12-month FD %	3.77	3.75	3.71	3.09	2.49

Source: Market review and outlook for April 2011, Public Mutual Berhad (2011).

Public Bond Fund is one of the best alternative for conservative investors & Fixed deposit investors. P Bond fund could provides investors with higher returns than FD rate in the medium to long term period. For investors who want to invest for medium term, PBF will be a good choice compared to FDR.

4.Public Islamic Bond Fund

PIBD is another best investment alternative  for conservative investors. This fund is categorized as Islamic Global bond with Conservative Risk Profile. Fund objective is to provide annual income to investors through investment in Islamic Debt Securities.

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Annual Returns for Financial Years Ended Oct 31
Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
PIBF %	3.9	4.1	3.27	10.07	7.75
12-month GIA %	3.45	3.69	3.55	3.03	2.89

Source: Market review and outlook for April 2011, Public Mutual Berhad (2011).

PIBF was able to achieve positive returns for 5 consecutive years. Moreover, the annual return was much higher than the 12 month GIA rate or 12 month FDR rate. We only get 3% annual return if we invest in FDR today. Thus PIBF is much more attractive which also can provides you with sustainable return.

a. Investors are advised to diversify your investments into various alternatives (FDR, Stock market, Mutual Fund, etc) to achieve sustainable returns.

b. Investors should take note that there are fees and charges attached to these funds.