All Sold out....

On 22 June, the ING Baraka Capital Protected Fund, ING's latest Islamic unit trust fund was sold out. 600 million units to a tune of RM500 million was the highest ever achieved for a single fund product.

The response was just too good to be true. It shows smart money is moving toward good trust funds. Conservatives are leaving fixed deposits. Fixed deposit mining has finally found their mark.

This response has spurred ING to line up a local Islamic cash management fund to be launched in August and another global growth fund in September.

ING wants to balance global funds with local products. It hopes investors would not miss the gravy train that is choo-chooing out of the growth of the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) as well.

Steve Ong of ING explained that they utilise a global standard investment style known as the Growth at Reasonable Price (GARP) as their in-house strategy to generate consistent returns with lower risk volatility for their investors.

GARP investing is a combination of value and growth investment, which sought out stocks with growth potential at a reasonable price. Using this method, ING does not need to time the market, thus staying invested in the market at all times.

ING is currently among the top 10 unit trust players in the country and intends to move up to be the top 5 by 2008.

Meanwhile, ING's head of investment Wu Yah Ning expects the KLCI to hit 1,500 points by year-end on the back of healthy corporate earnings growth, liquidity and global economic growth. She reiterated that strong domestic demand will be able to support the local economy. Similarly,mergers and acquisitions will also continue to drive the market,” she said.

Heartsong