Top 8 Mutual Funds Or Unit Trusts To Invest In Singapore 2019
The global economy today is not performing at its optimal. Similarly, Singapore’s growth numbers have largely missed estimates for much of the year.
In its Economic Survey of Singapore for the third quarter of2018, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) cited weakening external demandand increasing economic risks on the global stage.
Nonetheless, MTI is confident that the economy will grow atbetween 3.0% and 3.5% on average for the whole year. The growth numbers for2019 are likely to be smaller due to the emerging threat of a trade war betweenthe world’s two economic giants.
Despite all the negativity, the economy will continue toexpand in the coming year. Therefore, Singaporeans should be ready to partakein the growth.
In such treacherous times, it is only prudent that one looksout for the best investment vehicles. They also should be able to withstandadverse economic conditions.
Mutual funds collect money from various investors and put itin diverse investment vehicles. Usually, a mutual fund will invest in stocks,bonds and the money markets. It will depend on the structure and business planof the mutual fund on whether the investment is purely equity-focused,bond-focused or a mix of both.
The bottom-line is that mutual funds offer safe investmentoptions for risk-averse investors. In Singapore, these entities are gainingtraction as many people opt to invest with them.
In 2018, there are mutual funds that performed well according to Fundsupermarket, a premier platform for mutual funds. Besides helping people invest in mutual funds, Fundsupermarket collects crucial data about the entities.
The information helps the platform to evaluate theperformance of all mutual funds. For this year, most of the best performingfunds invest in equities.
Interestingly, the equities market is likely to continueoutperforming the bond market in the coming year. This is likely especially inthe face of the ongoing trade war between China and the U.S.
As such, most of the funds that will pop up in the best listinvest in diverse stocks in the equities sector. This article will dwell onfunds that are best performing year-to-date. Here are the best eight.
FidelityGlobal Health Care Class A
Ranking funds in Singapore is quite a task. This is because the sectorgroups them according to what portfolio they normally keep. For instance, youwill have fixed income funds (funds that invest in bonds only) grouped togetherand ranked on how they beat the market.
On the other hand, equity funds will appear separately, as well as fundsthat mix their portfolios. Nevertheless, Fidelity Global ranks high in rankingsdone by all major platforms.
For the last one year, Fidelity Global overall performance is positive.The fund beats many rivals as it has a positive average return of 8.04%according to Fundsupermarket.
Further, Fidelity Global maintains a 1-year offer to bid return of 1.4%. Onthe other hand, the 1-year bid to bid return clocks 7.06%.
However, the fund has the highest rating of risk. This implies that asmuch as the investor is likely to get high returns from the fund, there is ahigh likelihood of losing capital.
Aberdeen Singapore Equity Fund
This year was particularly not good for this fund. According to the latest monthly fund manager’s report, the fund is a victim of a global equity sell-off. As such, most of the equities in the fund’s portfolio ended in the red.
With an exposure toDBS Group, OCBC and UOB, the investor is guaranteed a good return in the comingyear. These, and a few others in the funds top ten equity holdings, are thebest companies in Singapore. Therefore, if you wanted exposure to the best,Aberdeen is your destination for 2019.
Further, AberdeenSingapore equity fund enjoys a four star rating from Morningstar, a premierrating platform for investment vehicles.
Eastspring Investments Unit Trusts – Singapore SelectBond Fund Class A
There are few long term investment options that guarantee good returns. With the bulk of investments in the government bonds, Eastspring is among the safest funds to put money in.
Particularly, theglobal equity market is in kind of a tailspin with the ongoing trade warbetween the two largest economies. As such, demand for government bonds willhike.
The fund holds 22.4%of government bonds, 22.2% corporate bonds and the rest spread across REITS,Insurance and others.
Further, most of theinvestment is in the Singapore debt market. With 58% of country weight, theinvestor will get sufficient exposure to the growth trend of the economy.
UnitedAsia Pacific Real Estate Income Dis SGD
Citywire ranks this fund as the best in terms of returns. The fund exclusively invests in the property sector. Interestingly, the funds has consistently performed above the sector average for the whole of this year so far.
The fund returned 0.3% in the first quarter 2018. In Q2, the performanceimproved to 0.5% and later 1.2% in Q3. If this uptrend is to sustain for therest of the year, this puts the fund in a great position to offer great returnsin 2019.
FranklinGlobal Convertible Securities A (ACC) USD
Franklin global gives the investor the opportunity to accumulate capitalin the bond market. The fund maintains a total annual charge of 1.25% whichranks very low compared to industry peers.
Morningstar gives the fund a five-star rating based on low risk exposureand strong returns. For the last 1-year period, the fund returned 4.90%. Further,the fund reports 7.06% annualised volatility in Singapore dollars. As such, itsestimated future returns are high.
FullertonLux Asian Equities A SGD ACC
Fundsupermarket ranks this fund as high risk. However, Fullerton is theoverall best fund for the last one year. In this period, it returned 14.53%.
Investments in Singapore account for only 8.8% of the total country focusfor this fund. Nonetheless, the fund maintains holdings in the largestcompanies in the Asia Pacific. As such, it is a very safe bet, especially withthe impending tariffs in the coming year.
Interestingly, the fund’s portfolio cuts across the region, from TaiwanSemiconductor Manufacturing to Samsung Electronics in South Korea.
PruLink Singapore ASEAN Managed Fund
If you like an entity with an aggressive investment culture, PruLink is your fund. The fund is a leader in the 3-year Lipper rating for consistent return.
Managed by EastspringInvestments (Singapore) Ltd, the fund boasts an average return of 3.3% sinceinception in 2012.
It has holdings inDBS Group, United Overseas Bank, Overseas Chinese Banking Group, SingaporeTelecommunications among others. The diverse nature of its holdings ensures lowrisk while keeping the returns substantial.
Schroder Asian Growth SGD
With no sectorialemphasis, this fund invests in majority of Asian countries but with the exceptionof Japan. Although past performance is not a reliable indicator of futurereturns, Schroder has had one of its best runs this year.
Further, the fundboasts holdings in the region’s technology giants like Samsung, TaiwanSemiconductor, Tencent, Alibaba and other diverse equities.
However, the largestsector in focus is financials where its holdings amount to 23.6% of itsportfolio. Also, the fund largely focuses on Chinese equities with the countrytaking up 36.2% of the total portfolio.
(By Neha Gupta)
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