The Hang Seng Ping Income Fund has opened for public sale providing investors with an opportunity to capture income and growth potential in Asian markets amid current market volatility.
The fund is managed by Hang Seng Investment Management Limited (HSVM) with Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) (PAAMC HK) as the sub-investment Manager, responsible for the fund’s investments in debt securities. Regular asset allocation between equities and bonds will take place to deliver optimised results. This fund has been launched to pave the way for the upcoming official implementation of the cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect pilot scheme (‘Wealth Management Connect’).
The fund aims to provide income and long-term capital growth through investing primarily in a balanced portfolio consisting of equity and debt securities from Asia-Pacific markets (excluding Japan).
As of 28 February, the major markets include mainland China, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea while major sectors include information technology, consumer discretionary, real estate, financials and materials.
The fund offers both HKD and USD income classes and intends to pay monthly distributions with an annualised dividend yield of around 4 per cent (dividend yield is not guaranteed and may be paid out of capital). The management fee is 1.5 per cent per annum and the estimated ongoing charges is 1.9 per cent. Since its launch in August last year to professional investors, the fund has achieved a net return performance of 11.4 per cent. Net return performance from the Fund launch date to 2020 year-end was 8.3% and the net return performance for the year to date was 2.8 per cent.
Rosita Lee, Director and CEO of HSVM, says: “In the low interest rate environment, coupled with recent market volatility, it is difficult for investors to identify an optimal time to invest their wealth. This fund offers a balanced investment strategy that focuses on Asia-Pacific assets, with the hope of offering investors the opportunity to capture income and growth potential in Asian stock markets while achieving lower volatility coupled with stable income through investing into Asian bonds. Leveraging the joint expertise of HSVM and PAAMC HK, this fund further strengthens our platform for future growth, particularly with the anticipated official implementation of Wealth Management Connect, which will create enormous business opportunities for the financial industry in the Greater Bay Area.”
Chi Kit Chai, CIO and Head of Capital Markets of PAAMC HK, says: “We are very excited to partner with HSVM. The combined expertise and resources of both firms create great synergy and bring invaluable opportunities to our clients. Global interest rates are at historic low levels, which is eroding income for many investors. Currently, Asia bonds offer significant yield pickup compared to bonds in other regions. Combining Asian bonds with Asian equity, this fund seeks to achieve both income generation and capital appreciation while taking advantage of the low correlation between bonds and equity to lower volatility. With the upcoming Wealth Management Connect, this fund can enhance our product portfolio, enabling us to capture this enormous opportunity to serve investors on both sides of the border.”
Customers can buy the fund at Hang Seng branches and through Hang Seng e-Banking starting from today, with minimum subscription amounts equivalent to HKD20,000 and HKD5,000 respectively. The fund will also be available on online distribution platforms, including Hang Seng’s SimplyFund platform starting from 12 April, with a minimum subscription amount of HKD1 and the mobile platform of Lufax Holding Ltd subsidiary, Lu Hong Kong, starting from 29 March, with a minimum subscription amount of HKD100.
