PUBLIC MUTUAL OVERSEAS EXPOSURES

recently my friend wrote a latter to Public Mutual and thanks god he got reply.!

Question to Public Mutual:
In view of the recent financial storm which hits the world markets, my investors are very very concerned with their investments in Public Mutual
These are among the common question which have been lingering on their mind:

1) is public bank group or public mutual have any exposure to us/European financial/investment markets thru partnership/strategic alliance or shareholding. ?

2) what are the strategies fund managers undertake/implement to combat the crisis. ?
there's an urgent need to explain to investors that their money is safe in the hands of fund management ,then they will remain cautious and wary of investing their money in Public Mutual I would propose that Public Mutual gives a press release to restore the confidence of our investors. Please treat the above with urgency and a concrete reply is much appreciated

and the reply:
Public Mutual’s unit trust funds do not have any direct or indirect investment in the U.S. sub-prime related mortgages and credit default swaps. However, Public Mutual has several global equity funds (i.e. Public Global Select Fund, Public Global Balanced Fund and PB Euro Pacific Equity Fund) which invest in collective investment schemes or unit trust funds managed by foreign fund managers. These funds invest in selected stocks listed in U.S. and European markets.

The performance of our equity funds has been adversely affected by the decline in global and regional equity markets on concerns over slower U.S. economic growth, tight credit conditions and the U.S. sub-prime crisis. More recently, regional markets have hit multiyear lows due to the adverse impact of the U.S. sub-prime crisis on global financial institutions On 3 rd October 2008, the U.S. Congress approved the revised US$700 billion rescue plan to buy troubled mortgage-related assets from distressed financial institutions.

However there are concerns that it will take time to restore liquidity in the U.S. credit market with economic activities slowing further in 1H2009 before recovering towards the end of 2009 To ease the economic effects of the deepening global financial crisis, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Swiss National Bank and Sweden’s Riksbank jointly reduced interest rates by 50 basis points on 8 October 2008. Monetary easing policies combined with more measures to recapitalize troubled financial institutions are expected to take time to restore confidence in credit markets and mitigate the downside risks to global economic activities


In the near term, regional and domestic equity markets are expected to remain volatile as investors will continue to monitor developments in the global financial system and the outlook for global economic growth.Following the retracement in regional and domestic markets in recent months, market valuations are now below or near their historical averages. Looking ahead into 2009,the downside risks for selected regional and domestic markets are mitigated by below trend valuations, easing inflationary pressures, sustained economic growth and low real interest rates.

Given the above factors, investors are advised to continue to take a medium to long term investment view of at least three years when investing in equity unit trusts. It is especially during periods of market volatility that investors should remain focused on their long-term investment goals and keep their emotions from influencing their investment decisions. On the fund management side, the fund managers are constantly monitoring the portfolios and rebalancing the funds in line with the respective funds’ investment objective