· New IL fund that invests in the PIMCO GIS Income Fund
Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad (Allianz Life) and HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad (HSBC Malaysia) have launched a new investment-linked (IL) fund, the Allianz Life Elite Income to provide more opportunities for customers to invest in global bonds.
Allianz Life Elite Income Fund invests in an underlying fund, the PIMCO GIS Income Fund. It is the first PIMCO fund that is offered as an IL fund in Malaysia.
Allianz Life Chief Executive Officer, Charles Ong said the Allianz Life Elite Income Fund is especially designed to cater to customers who seek stability and consistent investment returns over a medium to long-term period from fixed income funds.
“Investing in the global markets can help investors mitigate the impact from local market crisis on their investments, with a higher probability of long-term growth. As such, it is crucial to pick the right fund and time to invest globally.”
“The Allianz Life Elite Income provides an opportunity for everyone to access fixed income funds globally at an affordable premium via the IL plans under HSBC. In addition, customers will be getting the best of both worlds from the IL plans which also comes with life insurance protection,” Ong said.
The global bonds investment opportunity is offered at a relatively low annual fund management fee of 0.90% p.a via HSBC IL plans including HSBC’s EliteSaver Plus, HSBC’s EliteSaver GIO or HSBC’s EliteCare Plus, via a lump sum investment amount or regular savings for dollar cost averaging.
HSBC Malaysia Head of Wealth, Wealth and Personal Banking, Jon Chivers said: “HSBC Bank Malaysia is proud to partner Allianz Life to offer our customers the opportunity to invest in PIMCO’s diversified global bonds through an investment-linked fund. With Allianz Life Elite Income, customers will have access to the fixed income exposures they need to build and protect their wealth regardless of shifting market conditions, and we are confident that we are providing our customers another signature product that will meet their needs as we forge ahead towards becoming the leading wealth manager in Asia.”
In May, the bonds market in almost every corner of the US$63 trillion global debt market are recovering due to improved sentiments among investors.
It is expected that global bonds may deliver positive returns for the rest of this year, making now the time to increase investments allocation to fixed income.
PIMCO Group CIO, Dan Ivascyn said, “After many years of low yields and tight spreads, we see a more favorable environment emerging in which producing attractive returns for bond investors should be less challenging. We are beginning to see many attractive opportunities amidst higher interest rates, widening spreads, and spiking volatility.
“In our view, the current market volatility presents attractive opportunities for active managers. We have built up a tremendous amount of portfolio flexibility to take advantage of mispricing created by the volatility and uncertainty, and we are optimistic,” he noted.
PIMCO GIS Income Fund is the flagship fixed income strategy managed by PIMCO, with a long-term proven track record of delivering positive performance since its inception in 2012.
