The investment environment might not look too rosy for now but people are still generally receptive towards investment products that offer guaranteed capital protection, investment diversification and insurance protection.
The investment environment might not look too rosy for now but people are still generally receptive towards investment products that offer guaranteed capital protection, investment diversification and insurance protection.
This is evident from the simple survey conducted in August 2008 by CIMB Aviva Malaysia (CIMB Aviva) which showed 67.9% of respondents saying they will invest in a product that offers all the three elements.
Asian markets such as China, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are still the preferred investment location with 74% choosing Asia as the continent that they think they would be interested to invest in now vs 10.7% for Australia or 5.4% for North America.
"CIMB Aviva decided to get some feedback on investor sentiment that is currently very difficult to predict due to unsettling factors such as global economy slowdown, rising cost of living and local political developments. This survey gives us a better picture of what to expect and supported the strategy of our latest product, CIMB Islamic Market Select," said Encik Zainudin Ishak, CEO of CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad.
"CIMB Islamic Market Select is a Shariah-compliant product which provides a 100% capital protected guarantee along with the upside of investing in 17 different countries. This means not only portfolio diversification that mitigates overall portfolio risk but also a higher potential for growth. The fact that most of those surveyed still view Asia optimistically means this is an ideal product for all," he added
CIMB Islamic Market Select gives investors the opportunity to ride on the existing investment wave of mature markets such as the US, promising Asian markets such as China and India plus the added advantage of investing into new emerging markets such as Brazil and Turkey which are set to take off as the next investment hotspots offering potential for long-term growth potential.
When applied to historical data, Market Select's dynamic investment allocation strategy gives average annual returns of 16.5% and 23.6% for its three-year and five-year plan which means potentially higher returns than a conventional fixed deposit account.
A CIMB Islamic Market Select investor also benefits from takaful coverage, which pays surviving nominees a maximum of 125% of his single investment if he passes away before the investment matures.
Market Select applies the Best Performing Strategy that refers to the Dynamic investment allocation strategy. With this strategy, the returns at maturity are allocated based on a 60:20:20-allocation rate for the three market categories. This means investors enjoy 60% of the return based on the best performing category and 20% respectively for the remaining two categories. This product offers the option of a three-year and a five-year select terms with the latter having the added flexibility of providing yearly income distribution.
CIMB Islamic Market Select is available at all CIMB Islamic branches, which are co-located at CIMB Bank's 366 branches nationwide until 19 September 2008. For further information, investors can call 1 300 880 900 or visit www.cimbbank.com.my.
-ends-
Enquiries:
Andi McLennan
Director of Marketing
CIMB Aviva Assurance Berhad
Telephone: 03-03-2612 3724
E-mail: andi@cimbaviva.com
Tricia Loh
Head of Brand & PR
CIMB Aviva Assurance Berhad
Telephone: 03-2614 3599
E-mail: tricia@cimbaviva.com
Notes to editors:
What questions and answers did we get?
1. Which age range do you fall into? | |
Above 50 | 6.25% |
Between 41 and 50 | 15.18% |
Between 31 and 40 | 43.75% |
Between 21 and 30 | 32.14% |
Under 21 | 1.79% |
2. Your current annual gross income level is: | |
Under RM24,000 | 11.61% |
Between RM24,000 and RM50,000 | 41.07% |
Between RM50,000 and RM100,000 | 33.04% |
Above RM100,000 | 11.61% |
3. What is the average savings amount in your deposit account now? | |
Below RM1000 | 32.14% |
RM1000 - RM5000 | 25.89% |
RM5000 - RM20,000 | 18.75% |
RM20,000 - RM50,000 | 14.29% |
Above RM50,000 | 8.04% |
4. Currently, do you think you have enough savings to cope with rising cost of living? | |
Yes | 10.71% |
No | 86.61% |
5. If you have excess cash in hand, where would you prefer to put it at present? | |
Keep in the bank | 26.79% |
Invest in shares | 8.93% |
Invest in unit trust or insurance | 22.32% |
Invest in properties | 27.68% |
Other | 13.39% |
6. Which of the following continents in the world do you think would be interesting to invest in now? | |
North America (eg US, Canada) | 5.36% |
South America (eg Argentina, Brazil) | 3.57% |
Africa | 3.57% |
Asia | 74.11% |
Australia | 10.71% |
7. Which of these markets would you choose to invest in if given the choice? | |
Developed markets eg US, Europe & Japan | 25.00% |
Asian markets eg China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand | 59.82% |
New markets eg Russia, Kazakhastan, South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico and Vietnam | 14.29% |
8. How confident are you now to invest your money vs two months ago? | |
Very confident | 1.79% |
More confident | 11.61% |
Neither confident nor not confident | 51.79% |
Less confident | 27.68% |
Not confident at all | 8.04% |
9. What is your primary investment objective? | |
Highest potential returns | 28.57% |
Growth of income | 35.71% |
Diversification across different asset classes | 8.04% |
Secure investing | 26.79% |
10. If you could securely invest your excess money in your deposit account within 17 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America whilst benefiting from 100% capital protection and with an element of additional life cover protection, would you do so? | |
Yes I'd invest | 67.86% |
No I'd leave my money in my deposit account | 8.93% |
I don't know | 23.21% |
Which countries does CIMB Islamic Market Select invest in?
Developed Markets | US, Europe and Japan |
Asian Emerging Markets | China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand |
Next Emerging Markets | Russia, Kazakhastan, South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico and Vietnam |
Who is CIMB Aviva?
CIMB Aviva is a joint venture company between CIMB Group and Aviva plc. CIMB Group is Malaysia's second largest financial services provider and one of Southeast Asia's leading universal banking groups, and Aviva is the world's fifth largest insurance group* and the largest insurance services provider in UK.
Through the joint venture, CIMB Aviva offers a comprehensive range of life insurance and takaful products and services via the 366 branches of CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic, two subsidiaries under CIMB Group.
CIMB Aviva also rides on the global expertise of Aviva, which services 45 million customers in 27 countries around the world. Aviva recorded total sales of £49.2 billion (RM337.5 billion) at 31 December 2007 and funds under management of £359 billion (RM2.28 trillion) at 30 June 2008.
*based on gross worldwide premiums
Average exchange rate 1£ = RM6.86 (2007), RM6.34 (6-month 2008)